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flowers-of-io · 2 years ago

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A small, frustrated part of me wants to say that if you play a game with heavily lore-grounded storylines and you don't pay attention to the lore, it's not anyone's fault you don't know what's going on. I see how this was a problem back before Forsaken, when there was hardly any lore accessibile in-game (rip Grimoire cards), but it's not like Ishtar doesn't exist and Destinypedia isn't being updated on the daily. For how ambitious Bungie have been with the lore, the recent theme of retconning a lot of established plot points and character arcs (which has grown to ridiculous proportions during Plunder, like... really?) has stung even more. In a game that began with the Alpha Lupi puzzles, of all things! If you start from that high a note, and then throw away or conveniently ignore half of what you've established because it seems to compliment, it feels cheap. I know this is my disappointment speaking, and I might sound mean, but come on.

This has been my biggest concern regarding the DCV, a decision that was utterly destructive from a storytelling perspective (even if I understand it might've been necessary from the technical point of view). On one hand I can see Bungie acknowledging the years of lore and trying to bring it into the light with stuff like the Grimoire Anthology, unlocking all the old lorebooks, the in-game timeline, etc, and at the same time we get stuff like Quria's A Seasonal Boss Now or Misraaks' New Backstory. Frankly, I love how Witch Queen has been handled! This ages-old miles-deep lore being summarised into the shortest elevator pitch possible, understandable at first glance, but still including terms like "tablets of ruin", "krill" and "god-wave", which you can google if you so fancy and read the entire story. Maybe it's time to bring the old obscure lore into the game in a similar fashion? Alpha Lupi cards referenced in dialogue? Maybe some radio conversations about that time Rasputin faced a worm god and won? Some recap of what SIVA was? Something to entice people to look up the things you don't have the time and capacity to put into the narrative proper, instead of dumbing the story down for the sake of players who don't feel like doing that. There's a middle ground to be found here, I think.

I've never been a big Rasputin nerd and a lot of the old lore about him confuses me immensely. I liked the recap on what the different sumbinds were called and what the Abhorrent Imperative was, who the Seraphs were, how Ana trained him -- it was barely brushing the surface, but in a way that explained stuff on the screen to you without having to do a full background check on the characters after every new mission. And even with this basic knowledge it's so easy to see how his arc was rushed, like... being an engram for three years and then lasting for half a season before getting killed off again? All the hype, all the tidbits of dialogue or cutscene shots teasing Ana working on his new frame? The pacing is so over the place here. Maybe his death wouldn't ring so hollow if he were allowed to be an active and interactive chatacter for longer than a month, maybe this would have been a pay-off to an arc if that arc had been allowed to actually take place.

Well, it’s been a week and I've had time to cool down and put together my thoughts on Season of the Seraph and its ending. So here goes.

The season finale plot did not require Rasputin to die. "The eliksni are trying to get control of the warsats" is literally a strike. If the warsats needed to be taken off the table as a get-out-of-jail-free card we could have blown the network and kept Rasputin himself. There was an active decision to kill him. Having thought about it, I think I understand why this decision was made - but I still think it's a terrible decision, and I'll explain why.

Before we start, I don't want to sound like I'm going after Destiny's narrative team either personally or professionally. I'm not calling them terrible writers, much less terrible people. I don't know them! They might even be terrible people, for all I know. While I refer to a single monolithic "narrative team," I know in reality there are multiple groups working on different stories. I’m not a professional writer, and they are. And I genuinely believe all of them are talented people who work hard and care about Destiny. But that doesn't mean I don't have some criticisms.

After considering it I think there are three possible reasons to kill Rasputin:

1). The narrative team believed this was a good emotional conclusion that brought closure to his character arc in Destiny. In this case I just think they're flat-out wrong. I'd say "I respect it" but I kind of don't because I think it's so terribly wrong. I don't know what other people think Rasputin's character arc involved, but I won't get closure till Rasputin faces the Witness again and finally ends the war he's been trapped in for centuries. But I get why they would do it, if they believed this. And that final mission was really good. I had a hard time noticing at the time, but it was very well-done, and the cutscene proper was well-shot, -scripted, and -acted (though I'm still angry about the Traveler upstaging Rasputin's death). They put a huge amount of effort into it and into the story work all season long.

But his death being well-done doesn’t change whether I think it was a good narrative choice. Even saying “Rasputin’s arc should conclude here,” the way it was set up had him sacrificing himself to basically cancel himself out. Unless they’re saving up a plot twist, Rasputin ultimately contributed nothing to the fight. He didn’t do any damage to the Fleet or Witness, or anything to stymie Xivu Arath. He died thinking he’d never helped humanity at all and it was safer if he didn’t exist. I don’t know about you, but I find that extremely unsatisfying.

2). Someone doesn't like Rasputin/doesn't know what to do with him. This is two reasons, but they overlap. The Operation: Sancus mission dialogue pissed me off because it gave me the impression that whoever was writing it really didn't like Rasputin and was taking the chance to morally excoriate him. A more subtle version recurs in the final mission where Rasputin is essentially sacrificing himself to null out his own existence - saying "as long as I exist I'm a threat to humanity" - as if he can't ever help or contribute more than endanger people, which is just flat-out wrong. "Humanity doesn't need a Warmind" you're part of humanity, Red. He’s a person; he doesn’t need to justify living. If someone just decided Rasputin Was Bad Actually I’d be very angry indeed. But I don't think it's that personal. Destiny has lots of writers and multiple narrative teams will touch the same work. One person's distaste probably wouldn't steer an entire season.

Related, however, is the reason that maybe no one knows what to do with Rasputin. To be honest I sympathize with this one. Would it shock anyone to hear I've thought about how I would script a Rasputin-focused season? It's surprisingly hard to build a plot around him. A game needs to be interactive and Rasputin's kind of all or nothing - either he can handle the whole problem himself or he can't do anything at all. Red also mostly plays defense. He doesn't have a goal he's working towards other than "kill the Witness/save humanity." You need to come up with a plausible goal that we can believably help him achieve, and that's nontrivial. But, well, that's why I'm not a professional games writer and these people are. "Not sure what do" is not IMO sufficient justification for assassinating one of Destiny's oldest characters/factions.

3). The Destiny narrative team is trying to "declutter" the setting and foreground story by sidelining characters who take a lot of lore to understand. I think this is the real reason, and it's worth talking more about.

A lot of us lore-nerds have long complained about Destiny not foregrounding its setting and story, and Bungie has responded by trying to do so. I think we didn't consider what that would actually look like. Imagine Destiny's story like a long movie. Now imagine people are constantly coming and going from the audience, and everyone who comes in has to nudge their neighbor and go, "hey, what's happening?" Destiny is always (hopefully) acquiring new players, and existing ones are dropping out and coming back. Even most established players either don't read the lore or don't track/remember it. We the lore-keepers are very much the anomaly. If we want story to be a focus, that story also has to be more accessible to new players, lapsed players, people who don't bother reading loretabs, etc., because otherwise it harms their experience and there's a lot more of them than there are of us.

I think this is why we've seen a lot of seasons that introduce whole new concepts - the eliksni Sacred Splicers, for instance - rather than following on existing storylines. Introducing a mostly-new concept puts new and old players on a similar footing. Haunted is another type of compromise between the goal of furthering the story and the goal of making it accessible. Calus and Leviathan are back, but so warped that old players have as much to learn as new ones, and the Sever missions dive deep into character pasts but pretty explicitly describe the emotional arcs they're illustrating, so you don't have to be familiar with that character to get what they're going through. To those who already know Zavala, Crow, etc., it seems laughably obvious and strained. But to those who just got here, this is their first time learning not just about Safiyah but also about Zavala. I think this is also why there have been multiple casual retcons of minor stuff - there isn't time to explain the history, and they've decided it's not worth confusing people.

Rasputin is old. He's been a significant part of Destiny since literally the pre-Alpha test. The complexity and history that are part of why we love the Warmind also make him hell to explain to new people. It takes a decent amount of lore to get invested in his character and since Beyond Light none of that lore is featured in-game. Pre-Season of the Seraph, anyone who began with Beyond Light literally never met him. They never visited Hellas Basin, which is one big environmental story about Rasputin, and The Will of Thousands strike, which demonstrates Red's power and contains many possible dialogues that emphasize him trusting you/acting as an ally, left the playlist ages ago. Since then a new player's only gameplay interaction with him has been Fallen SABER, in which Red yells incoherent Russian and tries to flatten you with a warsat. Is it a surprise relatively new players might not be up on his character arc?

Season of the Seraph, with its narrative of rebuilding Rasputin from the ground up, would be a perfect time to introduce new players to Red's long history, and they...kind of...did that. They worked in Felwinter although then for some reason felt the need to retcon in the whole "Clovis wanted to destroy the Traveler" plan. If you were a new player who didn't know anything about Destiny lore, and you just played Season of the Seraph, you'd get an entire canned arc for Rasputin that hits the early high notes: built to be a weapon, rebelled against his constraints, humanities nerd, big smite, loves Ana and Elsie, makes mistakes but genuinely cares and wants to help.

But that's where Seraph stops. In existing lore (I almost typed "in reality") Rasputin worked out the whole "not a weapon" thing well back during the Golden Age. For a lot of us Warmind fans the most interesting parts of his story happened after that - the entire Collapse, confrontation with Darkness, years of hiding, etc., not to mention all his character development during Warmind and Worthy. He's gone through a lot, and Seraph misses all of it (except Felwinter) in favor of rehashing the same arc for a third time. It's like when moviemakers keep rebooting a superhero origin story. It may be a good story, but eventually we'd like to move on to the other parts we enjoy: this sleeping giant, hard scifi AI, grouchy old bastard, lost lore of the Golden Age, champion of humanity, learning from defeat, learning to trust again, the morality and trauma of warfare - what it means to lose a war - a being never meant to become what he was transforming still further, still unfolding his own potential.

So understanding why they might have done this doesn't excuse what I still see as a terrible narrative choice. I think dropping Rasputin is a major waste of potential, and he's far from the only tricky character to explain. Osiris, or at least the Cult of Osiris, is similarly old. His story is complex and weird and requires knowledge from Curse and earlier, yet he's still playing a major role. Other current characters like Elsie, Saladin, and Crow also need a decent amount of knowledge about previous game events to get why they are the way they are. Saladin's origin story isn't even in this game. It's not Rasputin's fault the game went three years without so much as mentioning him outside of written lore. What was wrong with the great Xivu-Rasputin “war god” parallels most of the season worked to set up, about the intent of violence? Are we never going to explore those? Are we just throwing out all the dialogues planning a role for Red in the upcoming war? Why did we have a dramatic confrontation about trusting Rasputin to operate independently if he were going to be gone in a month anyway? Just in Seraph alone the number of interesting plot threads abruptly trashed by this death argues against it.

Rasputin's longevity is precisely part of why he should stick around. In the first mission of Destiny 1 you wake up in his shadow. He has a history with us. There's just no one quite like him in Destiny. He's not just a character but an entire faction. He explores a part of story space that no one else does. He resonates with us as people rather than players. I assume Neomuna will pick up the Golden Age banner, but it’s a thriving city; Rasputin represented the ruins, the dangers of a dead age, the shadow of apocalypse. He's also maybe the most Guardian-like character and one of the best to weave a parallel/cautionary tale - were we, too, only made to be weapons? But if Rasputin didn't stay a weapon, can we too transcend that intention? And of all the factions in our solar system, the two with the most personal scores to settle with the Witness are the eliksni and Rasputin, and Misraaks'/Eramis' story has focused much more on the Traveler's flight than the Fleet's attack. Of everyone in Destiny Rasputin has the most desperately personal motive for revenge on the monochrome bastard. Now he's not even going to be there to watch it crash and burn.

I understand that foregrounding story also comes with the requirement that it be accessible to those who don't do their lore homework. I appreciate the monumental amount of work that's gone into doing that and the experimental nature of it. But I think the balance has skewed too far towards accessibility. Stuff like the end of Season of Plunder that has zero narrative motivation or continuity and doesn't even get a pretend justification drives me absolutely batty. You can only break internal rules so many times before players stop buying whatever narrative stakes you're trying to set up. Making the story easier to follow doesn't mean characters have to be cartoonishly-exaggerated caricatures like Clovis was in Seraph - just absolutely cartoonishly evil - or reduced to one or two character motives explicitly laid out for the player (though, credit where credit is due, Clovis was hilarious.) It doesn't mean the dialogue has to be as subtle as a Thundercrash. It doesn't mean you get a blank check to retcon or invent whatever's needed to create the intended character arc. If anything that discourages looking further into lore - why bother to learn it when next season will change it all again? I think Y5 represents a lot of experimentation by the Destiny narrative team, and I really respect that. But I also hope they learn what didn’t work from it, and sacrificing Rasputin in an ultimately pointless and unnecessary finale is a major misstep.

#for all it's worth i do enjoy? appreciate? his death being a poignant sacrifice for both humanity and the traveler #and that combined with the black fleet's attack it all creates the soulcrushing vibe of Everything's Fucked #it's a nice ground work for lightfall #but it does feel so cheap and without respect to his chatacter. he wasn't even really allowed to be a character for the new players!#(also sorry for hijacking your very good post op)#i like my lore with coffee #season of the seraph spoilers #season of the seraph #russia's greatest

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trainsinanime · 3 years ago

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I think at this point it’s really obvious what Marinette should do:

She should do a thorough risk-assessment of the identity rule, as part of a wider review all Miraculous holder rules, taking into account relevant experience from other heroes outside of Hawkmoth’s sphere of influence, such as the heroes of New York, Fei in Shanghai, and all the people Zag keeps teasing for years. She should inform Chat Noir that this process is ongoing and ask for his patience, and then try to bring him on board to the extent possible identified by the initial stages of the review.

(She should also tell Alix, randomly, “hey, please remember twenty years from now to come back to this exact moment in time, so we can work out what Chat Blanc was all about”. Alix may be surprised, but Bunnix will almost certainly appear immediately.)

She should also look into research for crew resource management in aviation and related fields where trust, understanding and cooperation in stress situations are crucial.

Once this review is over, Ladybug should implement new consistent secrecy rules (including consequences), write them down, and then hand them out as flyers to all new and returning temporary heroes.

She can also print out the final report of this review and include it as an appendix to the Grimoire.

I have no doubt that using a formalised process to identify and resolve all problems calmly and rationally would solve all of Marinette’s problems. All these “She should tell Chat Noir/Adrien/Alya/André the ice cream man about Chat Blanc” posts are putting the cart before the horse.

…and yeah, this is a tiny bit sarcasm. Marinette won’t do any of that, because then she wouldn’t be Marinette, and frankly, I wouldn’t want to watch that show either.

I love how all these kids are trying their best, but are operating with incomplete information, repressed trauma, and a general lack of chill. It’s very human, very relatable, and often a lot of fun. And when it comes to the long-term plot, the show doesn’t really have anyone carrying the “idiot ball”; everybody’s decisions are understandable from their point of view.

All that “she/he/they should” is generally way too simple; there’s no one single thing that needs to happen for everything to resolve, but lots of tiny things, because lots of tiny things got us into this mess to begin with. And I also think, for me personally, that it’s just more fun to see why she doesn’t these things.

#miraculous ladybug #mlb meta

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punderfulowl · 3 years ago

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Top 10 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2020

Well now, it has certainly been awhile. I'm currently sitting at eight months too late for posting this, but, y'know, something something life happens. More accurately, I already made this list, but wanted to try out what response I'd get from Reddit. Turns out, they're not as cool as you guys!

Anyways, as the title states, this is not a list of my favorite anime that came out during 2020, but instead my favorite anime that I just so happen to see during that year. While it's fun to have an end of the year retrospective, I find that having a list in this format not only adds variety, but also helps bring attention to anime that might have been lost in the shuffle in previous years (I also don't have enough time to stay caught up in seasonal releases).

Honorable mentions:

Aggretsuko S3, My Hero Academia S4, Today's Menu For the Emiya Family, Interspecies Reviewers (yes, really), and I Couldn't Become a Hero So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job

10. Maid-Sama (2010)

In hindsight, I find it a bit funny that I wanted to watch something wholesome to kick off 2020. Anyway, Maid-Sama is about a high school girl that is also a no nonsense Class President and she kind of has to be at a school where, until recently, was an all boys school. While she kills it in academics and is good at shutting down any shenanigans from the male student body, her financial situation isn't the greatest and has to balance a job at a maid cafe along with her school-related responsibilities. She does her best to hide her employment there to keep up appearances, but is one day found out by one of the boys who happens to be a big flirt and, yeah, hijinks ensue. While this anime doesn't have too many surprises, our main leads bounce off each other well enough to keep me entertained. Nothing I haven't seen already in other anime Rom-Coms, but I think it has more than earned its place at the start of this list.

9. Haganai NEXT (2013)

It's a personal rule of mine when making these lists that I don't include sequels of shows that were in previous lists. While I DID see the first season of Haganai a couple of years ago, it didn't quite make it into the top ten at that time. Because of that, it meets the criteria for this year's list. While I found the characters were just as charming here as I did during the first season, the development of their relationships really took off. It's a shame that it will most likely not get a third season, but I'm happy with what ride this show gave me. But hey! At least I can read the light novels/manga to continue the story! Wait, nevermind, the Haganai fans on Reddit are saying that's a bad idea.

8. Engaged to the Unidentified (2014)

Based off of a Four Panel joke manga, Engaged to the Unidentified tells the story of a girl in high school suddenly getting some life changing news. As it turns out, her grandfather made an arranged engagement with her and the son of a family he knew. Next thing she knows, the boy in question, as well as his little sister, moves into her family's house! While the boy is unassuming at first, there may be more to him and his family than he lets on. Plain and simple, this anime has charmed me. There's a decent amount of drama and mystery despite the source material and I applaud it! Even though this also doesn't have much new to offer, even to the point where I would compare this to Maid-Sama, what made me pick this at the 8th spot were the color choices and animation quality. Give this a shot if you can!

7. Grimoire of Zero (2017)

It's a fantasy/adventure story starring a loli sorcerer and a huge, anthropomorphic white tiger man. I honestly can't say anything else. I won't be able to do it justice. That first sentence should intrigue you a lease a little bit. Read it, again. Please check it out. It's an underrated gem that no one is talking about.

6. ID: Invaded (2020)

Hey, here's something recent! Unfortunately, this is also not something I can say much about. There may not be too many deep characters and the secret bad guy isn't hard to figure out, but BOY is this anime cool! The best way to describe this series is that it's like the movie Inception, but instead of brain heists, it's brain murder mysteries.

5. Carole and Tuesday (2019)

A runaway rich girl has a fated meeting with an orphan and they decide to make music together...oh, this also takes place Mars. Joking aside, this show was something special with its music (a new song almost every episode no less), interesting setting (freaking Mars, dude), and endearing main cast. Shoot, the music itself would be top 3, maybe number 1, but what bogs it down is the show's second half. I can easily see myself watching this again someday, and maybe my opinion will lighten up, but for now, 5 is a dang good spot.

4. Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia (2019)

Part of me hesitates placing this high up on list due to this show being animated, fan service spectacle for Fate fans. However, that hesitation is overshadowed by the fact that I am a Fate fan myself and I can do whatever I want with this list. Even if you're not a Fate fan or play FGO, if you enjoy some solid fight animation, this is worth a look.

3. K-On S1 (2009)

I'll admit it, I might regret not watching the second season then putting the series on the list as a whole, but this how I've been doing these lists and I'm such a creature of habit. There's not much I can say about K-On that hasn't already been said. By itself it's an anime classic and one of Kyo-ani's biggest properties. It's a sweet and wholesome watch, but be sure to have some insulin within reach.

2. Princess Principal (2017)

Imagine you're working with a team of programmers trying to make a mobile game then all of a sudden someone asks to make a show out of it. You know, a show with different character motivations, plot, twist and turns and all that? Most might say that's just a shameless, shallow cash grab, but it turns out okay for Princess Principal. Sure, most might summarize this anime as, "cute girls doing espionage things," but with its cast, visuals, and interesting alternative timeline, it works! Apparently there's a new season or movie in the works and I am all for it!

1. Beastars (2019)

I was not expecting this to be number one, but with much deliberation (with myself obviously) this feels right. It tells a pretty unique story while showing itself to be the exception to the rule when it comes to 3D anime.....it being that it's actually good. While I acknowledge that shows like K-On are classics and deserves to be number one on many different lists, it didn't line up with my personal criteria like Beastars did. My biggest deciding factor is: Now that I've watched this, do I want more? It's true that while I'm excited to start K-On S2, Beastars intrigues me more and ever since season two was announced, I'm looking forward to that more.

Sorry again for this list being so late, but at least the silver lining is that the next end of the year list is about four months away (in theory)!

#anime #k-on #beastars #princess principal #fate grand order #carole and tuesday #id invaded #grimoire of zero #engaged to the unidentified #haganai #maid sama

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galesh · 4 years ago

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Wish fulfillment au of Severus who was born in Albus' Dumbledore's time. I just wanted to post it as a reply on a discord server but then it got out of hand. So

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- Two clever swots duking it out... in academics!

- Debating each other of old spells and whether or not they're dark and the librarian jinxing them out of the library with hexes for being too loud

- Albus and Sev rubbing their stung bums and arguing about the hexes the librarian used

- Albus and Sev both discovering they're poor halfbloods and railing against the arswholes in charge who think they can sting their bums and get away with it

- Them stinging each other's bums because it's a fascinating body part and maybe rubbing them with a different set of hands because maybe it'll help, and they're experimental

-Albus viewing the fascinating kid with so much dark potential with new eyes.

-Sev keeping an eye out for the twinkly eyed twit because it's unnerving, really, and because he always found the goodness in others fascinating. He doesn't believe he can emulate it, but maybe some would seep through him in osmosis. That's what that muggle book said anyway

- His ma always said he had a thing for redheads. He's starting to suspect her of practicing black magic

- Albus and Sev working on potions and transfig together because none of them can tell the other they're bloody brilliant and that they're fascinated, and could we just get to stinging bums and rubbing out the soreness please

- Sev visiting the Dumbledore's on summer break because his father is dead and his mother as good as, meeting the creepy girl creature because he's nosy and of course he'd look at the one room Kendra told him not to

- Abe running to Ariana's room because she screams bloody murder. It's only when he gets there that he realises that that bloody snake they let into their house is being accosted by a happily shrieking Arianna who wants to meet this strange new black haired scarecrow her brother likes

- The older one

- Sometimes, Arianna suspects

- Sev being horrified by Ariana's sad tale, and not wanting her to waste away, working with Albus to make sure she can get out

- Abe (begging to) help them because he really wants to, and because he doesn't trust the snake

- Sev learns Abe can't bloody spell after the third time.he has to squint if the bottle has fluxweed or filchweed (Dyslexia is not recognised yet, but it will be, in the muggle world) amd tries to help. It's more insulting than helpful, but he tries!

- Albus feverishly searching for a way to fix what those muggle boys and their mother's imprisonment and his neglect have wrought. Searching in the darkest grimoires, because really, what is honor and goodness if it can't even help his sister?

- Ariana getting her father's silver signet, carved with the runes of protection, family, forgiveness and renewal. They can't fix her magic, but the magic she once loved has caused her loved ones only harm, and really, it's time to stop listening to the voice inside her, who wants to rip her mother to shreds and burn the whole world down

- In the end it's abe, who comforted her when her mum looked at her with hate and Albus ashamed who puts her ring on as she says the words the runes describe. It's hard to forgive her mother and those muggle boys, but Arianna thinks they've suffered enough (it'll be years later that she realises that she left one person, but as she watches her daughter's delightful coo as she Dan's her nose with a glowing goden finger, she is only thankful that her lack of forgiveness didn't take all her magic away).

- She kisses her brother-in-law to be on the cheek, as is only proper for a member of family.

(Ariana has a very feeble grasp on social niceties. She tries, okay! You try learning everything from books while trapped in a cottage like a demented princess, with a brother who even she knows has an unhealthy fascination with goats who'd talk to her normally)

(Arianna's husband and her daughter, who she names Severus --because every universe must have a second child with a severusly controversial name -- would really come to fear her social skills, or lack thereof. Severus blames her godfather and her uncle with a the raging hate of a 10 year old who's been denied Uncle Sev's sweets)

- Sev and Albus competing for the top spot in the classes with professors and the bottom in the classes without

- Albus meeting Gellert in the evening he's supposed to leave for France and noticing the same dark charm. Severus noticing, but wanting to taint it than emulate it

- A black owl pooping on Gellert's golden hair because he Does Not Share!

- Albus sharing his plans to Change The World which would kill a girl with beautiful, uncontrolled magic and put a vengeful father in a prison of his own despair

- Sev agreeing to them and adding some rather inventive and cruel revenges he'd have on the Wankers who disowned his mother for following her heart

- Albus crossing out those points with eyes that twinkle in gentle admonishment, because really Severus, where would you even get a fully grown basilisk, and ignoring the calculating glitter he gets in return

- Abe following the idiots because Ari orders him to help the idiots and he can deny her nothing

- Gellert becoming a Light wizard after being at the wand end of a particularly dark spell (they teach *that* at Hogwarts, the light school!?!?!?!?) By a vengeful gargoyle after he drunkenly kisses*Bruder* Dumbledore

(years later, Headmaster Dippet can't figure out why his newest Dada teacher is so militant about students knowing everything about Dark magic and why some magics should never be studied, or why flinches everytime he sees a mistletoe. He has enough experience at 300 Not To Ask)

- Albus learning the most beautiful healing spell at the hands of a scowling-dark-phoenix with moist, angry black eyes after the 12th use of a dragon's claw soon after he discovered the 12th use of their blood

(Fawkes could never forgive Severus Snape for stealing it's thunder. Also he smells owl. They're the worst!)

-Severus stealing the Flamels' thunder by creating a philosophers stone after being at their home for a month.

(Perenelle suspects it's because Nicholas, who can be really old fashioned about these things, forbade their apprentice and that brilliant boy with no thoughts from rooming together)

- Severus lacing Albus' lemon drops with the elixir of life because clearly, that imbecilic martyr thinks dragon claw wounds are amusing

- Albus lacing Severus' tea with it because it would be such a horrible thing to live alone

(or without the one person who matters, no offence to his family. Oh, alright Abe, you're definitely not it!)

(the elixir of life prepared yearly mysteriously dissappears into tea and lemon drops. Albus stops worrying over Severus getting killed by vampires while he gets their teeth in exchange of galleons like a demented tooth fairy, and Severus stops worrying about Albus getting nicked by antsy Dragons or Phoenixes or Nifflers, or whoever Albus scraps with in his spare time)

- Albus putting his demented convoluted plans in motion by destroying wizarding currency through inflation. It somehow leads to a goblin revolution, equal rights for magical creatures, and the adoption of muggle currency. Don't ask

(Rumour has it that Gellert, Wizarding Britain's champion one look at the the scowling face of a Severus Snape and proposes negotiations.

Muggle currency was great, really. Made mathematical sense, easier to handle, and twinkly eyed not quite evil overlords can't dependably reproduce all the identifiers. They hope

Quite coincidentally, as Severus will assure you, all the pureblood families --including the Princes, coincidentally-- lose all their accumulated money in the resulting changeover.)

- Albus rules everything from behind the iron curtain with gentle fists and an open smile. Everyone learns to agree with him because behind him stands the spectre of DEATHOMgWatdidyoudo that you want to always keep happy)

- An excited Tom Riddle learns about magic from a charming Professor who's really interested in how he speaks, and who agrees that muggles are awful but keep it down will you?

- Tom Riddle learns to confide in and trust the person who introduced him to the magical world; and tells him when he accidentally discovers the chamber of secrets while hissing open at one of the taps in the girls loo that just wouldn't dispense water (he was under a lot of pressure okay! No, he's not a creep!)

- Tom Riddle grows up to be a politician with a particularly hard view on those muggles. Being backed by the Headmaster of Hogwarts helps. The society has made great strides in the concept of equality and democracy however, and most creatures really don't like him for some insane reason. Albus Dumbledore wins the elections by a landslide again. Tom is tenacious, and plots for when he'd get the position after the old man dies

(On his deathbed, Professor Emeritus of Hogwarts, Professor Tom, curses todgy old men with unnaturally long lifespans)

-Harry Potter, who grew up loved and a headmaster who didn't want to train him in any way, shape, or form (Harry was glad. Headmaster Grindenwald was nice and all, but he really didn't want to know all about the Dark arts and why not to use them kplzthnx). He went on to work at the ministry because his mother instilled in him values of fairness, kindness, and Get Out The House And Go To Work You Bum!

(He named

- Ariana's first kid is named after Abe. Her second is called Severus. Severus being a girl, never forgives her, and years later, when her son is born, names him Ariana with a vindictive gleam in her eyes.

(Ariana never really learned a the social niceties. They're horribly ineffective, and Abe tells her she's always charming in any case)

(Severus Smith is comforted by the fact that her godfather is a immortal wizard who gives her the best sweets)

- Severus and Albus never really fall out of love, even though they fall out of bed many times. They are a different breed of men, really. Eternal devotion means eternal devotion, as they find out. The Flamels' are happy they finally get to go on what the muggles call double dates.

- They also never stop stinging each other on the bum, but that is a rather more mature tale.

#pls ignore #severus snape #albus dumbledore #snumbledore #for spider #discord has a 2000 character limit #how rude

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alovesongshewrote · 3 years ago

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👀 the other day i was thinking about your fic, but couldn’t remember the name. i just looked everywhere for it and it’s called ‘this could be angstier and maybe i’ll re-write it next year idk’ from your 2020 whumptober agshfhj so i’d love to hear some of your thoughts for that one

kdhskjsdhfg it's under the halloween 2020 masterlist, and heeere is a link! I rewrote it last year under the name "I've got Red in my Ledger" and here's a link to that one!

Anyway, I hate this fucking fic. That's a lie, I don't hate it, exactly, but it comes off as very rushed and unplanned when I read it now. And to be fair, it was both of those things! I put off writing it to the very last minute, to the point where I was writing it while I had a friend over celebrating with me (she was very chill about it and I apologized 78 times, I love her, she's amazing.)

ANYWAY, yeah, it was supposed to be a grand finale for whumptober and then it was,,, subpar. And you can almost tell that that's how I felt, because it got demoted from day 31 to day 5 the next year lmao. But oh well, that's enough about the time it was written, let's move onto the content.

here are some things i despise!

the initial meeting with donovan is kinda cringe. it does reads really weird and the dialogue is just... not good. i don't care for it much at all, actually. that's why there was such a big overhaul in the rewrite

ik this is supposed to be about content, but i just noticed i missed a comma when donovan says “The boy is too attached to the old wizard’s memory but you? You have other attachments.” there should be a comma between memory and but :(

studying donovan was kinda stupid, but oh well, it's there

i didn't outright despise it, but steve's relation to donovan was not great for this one. it didn't fit well, and maybe it's because i'm skimming this fic instead of reading it, but i think i may have deleted parts of it and left other parts in?? so that's a bit of a disaster. i do like the idea though, maybe one day i'll find a place for it

i fucking hate nomura's characterization in the og version. she knows what shutting down is, come on past lovesong. im glad i got to fix that in the rewrite

the idea that douxie would only panic a "little" at finding a note from his significant other that even implies that they're in danger is... not super in character. he would hide his panic, yes, and it would look like he was only panicking a little, but on the inside? he would be D Y I N G

the original execution of the plan is,,, so,,, confusing??? you can't really tell what's going on, but it gets better in the rewrite. idk why y/n brought the grimoire to that party, i think i just wanted to get zoe involved

speaking of zoe, i feel like she would've been part of the "what did douxie do to make y/n go all quiet" debates, and im sad that that wasn't included

and speaking of the grimoire, it was stupid that i made that the centre of this plot. there isn't enough worldbuilding to explain it, and i prefer the rewrite much more since the staff has more meaning

i literally cannot tell who is speaking at the end

and lastly, it isn't as angsty as i'd like it to be. my main thought going in was, "ok, here's the big ending, time to ramp up the angst" and then i didn't! my other main thought was, "let's do a hurt him to save him plot" because i fucking love those things, but idk, i don't think it was the best example of that. the rewrite did improve on this though! love that fuckin rewrite

in terms of things i like about this fic:

holy shit i love that opening line. it got carried over to the rewrite because when i was doing the rewrite i literally read it and went, "ok, that's a solid opening, im keeping it." honestly tho, that shit ages like fine wine, it gets better with time, it's so fucking funny. covid really does fuck up our time management, huh?

this is such a small thing, but i love the use of the word "zazzed." it's 100% in there because i heard dan howell use it once when i was like, 12, and it hasn't left my head since

occasionally, the wording is really good. "Lightning broke the sky into a thousand pieces, each one sparking some new metaphor." still fucks

it might seem cringe, but i do like that donovan uses "Sweetheart." It's supposed to be like, a fun house mirror reflection of the petnames that douxie uses- they're kind of like foils in that way (we'll come back to that)

i like the weird magic torture that donovan does... why doesn't he ever do that again??? marking that down for this years rewrite

“Tik Tok, (Y/N). I’ll see you soon.” did psychic damage, i love it

i do love that all of the kids + douxie get together to figure out what the fuck happened to their friend, and they're all like, 100% wrong. i just thought it would be cute!

I love the steve content. He deserved better than what rott gave him.

"Halloween broke down the door, kidnapped your second cousins, poisoned your crops and ate all of your food." is so fucking funny

ik this is supposed to be things i liked, but this is just a thing that is: this fic has a tiny bit of motif with y/n running past people they know and leaving them confused as fuck- it starts with claire and archie, and it ends with zoe. it isn't necessarily good, but i kinda like it.

“This… this is a copy of Twilight!” is fucking hilarious. other than the kiss between y/n and donovan, im pretty sure it was one of the two things i had planned from the beginning lmao

i don't have much good to say about this ending, oof

basically, i like a few things about this fic, but overall, it definitely wasn't my best work- mostly due to time constraints, i mean, I got it out on halloween, but at what cost? Other than that, I do like the basic shape of the plot- because that was more or less all i had going in. like i said, i just enjoy it when one character has to hurt another character to save or protect them. i enjoy misunderstandings, they're a lot of fun! i also think it's important to note that donovan, the guy who forces y/n to kiss him, gets set on fire and banished into another dimension in both this fic and the rewrite. consent is important, kids.

anyway, that's my analysis/review of that fic! i hope it was coherent!

OH, WHAT'S THIS? BONUS CONTENT?

yep, that's right kids, im also gonna review my favourite things about the rewrite, keeping it limited to 10 things, because this is already a long fucking post lmao

i love that you can see how my style changed between the two years. it grew up a lot, it's clearer now, and i really love that i can see it happening in front of me.

i love that there's more detail in everything- it's because i had more time to do the rewrite lol

I LOVE THE DONOVAN BACKSTORY, and this is what i was talking about when i mentioned how donovan uses "sweetheart" as opposed to everything douxie says- they weren't intended to be foils in the original, but there was a base for it, and i love that it's something i got to expand on in the rewrite. i also think it's just a really interesting backstory- we know douxie was saved, but we also know there are some magic users that had to fend for themselves, and i think that their thoughts on/relationship to douxie as someone that merlin himself protected are worth pondering. "And indeed, why not Donovan" could be an essay thesis, istg.

i love that the first confrontation with donovan extends into the bookshop. it gives him more time to be a character, and it allows him to become a real threat. the scene in the bookshop is much more intense than the one in spirit halloween, and i adore it. it's also fuckin creepy how donovan followed y/n home without them noticing? and i feel like that adds a layer, like, this dude sucks and he's good at it. I also like that it gives donovan a chance to see what's become of douxie and, to some extent, of merlin

this isn't necessarily about the fic, but i like that y/n almost died for douxie's staff in the rewrite, especially after rott just, took it away from him with time travel. rip y/n, you kind of almost died for nothing

i like that when y/n tries to tell people about donovan, it hurts. that was a good addition. i also like that they can't text about it either, because like,,, they would have tried!! at least!! oh well...

i like that y/n's fear for douxie's safety is more present in the rewrite. it wasn't as much in the original, and that kinda killed some of the "hurt them to save them" thing

“If you see Douxie tonight, can you- can you tell him I love him?” tore my heart out and killed me where i stood. it's genuinely one of the best things about the rewrite, it's so much better than the "hey, take this grimoire" thing from the original

THE BARGAINING BETWEEN Y/N AND DONOVAN IS SO MUCH CLEARER!! AND IT'S SO TENSE IN THE REWRITE, I LOVE IT!! also, y/n is a fucking badass, i love how they just keep telling donovan to fuck off in all kinds of different ways

and lastly, DOUXIE USES HIS SPELLCASTER GUITAR AND I LOVE IT SM, THEY SHOULD'VE LET HIM USE IT IN ROTT

anyway, that's actually it. thank you for reading this far if you have lmaooo

#lovesong is killing writer's block with drabbles and analysis

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legends-live-in-memories · 4 years ago

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I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1

lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.

im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.

Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.

So… a disclaimer before I begin…

I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…

If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)

This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion,

which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.

Now onto the fun stuff

I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing…

AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).

So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.

The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.

i don’t give a solid fuck.

Not one.

Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically.

And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.

This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss.

AND BOI is it a miss.

SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)

25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story,

24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,

28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,

37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,

41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,

44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,

47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,

48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,

51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,

66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,

67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,

68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,

69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,

70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,

71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,

73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)

77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,

New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,

That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because.

Too bad it means nothing.

Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)

Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.

Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing.

I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time.

How’s that for a ‘first’ post?

#mlb #opinions my guy opinions #i dont wanna tag this as salt #but mlb criticisms and analyses #IHTMO #the hashtag for this series #thomas astruc #miraculous fandom #miraculous ladybug #miraculous: tales of ladybug and cat noir #yes the government name again #come get yall juice #miraculous

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purenguyening · 3 years ago

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Mononobe no Futo

Favorite thing about them: She gives it her all and then some.

Least favorite thing about them: Remember that time Futo let Miko gamble with her life? I sure do, I never forget that, ever.

Favorite line: “Let us wager our balls and fight.”

brOTP: Futo/Ichrin and Futo/Youmu (the latter I think it’d be funny if we could get Futo into speaking from the Samurai era)

OTP: My favorite, a rad dish an a radish, aka Futo/Tojiko.

I’m so sad my meme name hasn’t caught on but I think about how people have wanted to make it catch on. I still think it’s the only good contribution I’ve ever made.

NOTP: Hm. Maybe Byakuren/Futo, I’ve seen it a thing, not for me.

Random headcanon: I like to think she keeps a bag of sweets under her tate eboshi for the kids (or Tojiko)

Unpopular opinion: I always think the pyromaniac memes are a little exaggerated, the only times I’ve played on it was specifically in the context of Incorrect Touhou Quotes.

I also think the “Futo is stupid” sort of thing is a bit misleading? I like a Futo that’s more go with the flow or somewhat like Yuyuko where she pretends she doesn’t know anything because doing so is just easier than admitting she’s more aware than she actually is?

I mean given she grew up in a time of war and constantly had to play a diplomat in a lot of it while manipulating both the Soga and Mononobe clan (for Miko’s benifit)...I just can’t help but think she just needs a break from all of that...

song i associate with them: Reikon Mythology - Sally from Sadomasochism

Easily my favorite vocal arrangement of Oomiwa Legend. The refrain always gets me:

Favorite picture of them: Vento’s Futo’s Day piece where Futo is just curled in a futon is top tier. I love her expression and the fact the futon has the iconic pattern that appears on the corner of her outfit.

Soga no Tojiko

Favorite thing about them: She’s 1000% with everyone’s bullshit.

Least favorite thing about them: I never quite understood why she chose a jar to store her soul in and I don’t think anyone ever tried to explore why or if she has any sort of an affinity for clay jars in general....

Favorite line: Plot twist she had more than one line:

“It's finally time to show off my centuries-old grudge!”

Seriously, I think about this Grimoire of Usami line from her a lot. Which is super weird because like, her profiles go out of her way to say that she is coming to terms with being a vengeful spirit.

I think it’s only Symposium of Post-Mysticism that suggests she had a grudge against Futo for killing her and that her status was being downgraded to that of a ghost that can create lightning, but I’m starting to think that:

1. She never had a grudge against Futo at all.

2. Futo didn’t actually kill her.

brOTP: Seiga/Tojiko, I like the idea that Seiga just brings random shit to help Tojiko pass time waiting for Miko and Futo to wake the fuck up.

OTP: My favorite, a rad dish an a radish, aka Futo/Tojiko. I’m so sad my meme name hasn’t caught on but I think about how people have wanted to make it catch on. I still think it’s the only good contribution I’ve ever made.

Yes, I really just copied and past this answer because, of course I would, I want “a rad dish and radish” to be a thing. Though I do find it funny that Tojiko’s profiles consistently, including Symposium of Post-Mysticism, go out of their way to say Tojiko does in fact not hate Futo.

NOTP: Miko/Tojiko, I’m not really a huge fan of works that play up that aspect given it was an arranged marriage. Then again, I’m generally have an uneasy relationship with the concept of marriage in general so that’s probably another huge part of it.

I might also think it’s a bit weird she honors Iruka, who was Tojiko no Iratsume’s nephew who’s shennigans led to Yamashiro, her son she had with Shoutoku Taishi, to die by suicide. But I keep this odd question to myself most of the time.

tl;dr I think there’s still potential for Miko/Tojiko but I think it might be better to remove the historical context behind it. Though, personally, it’s not a ship I’m super invested in.

Random headcanon: Tojiko having a sweet tooth is a very dumb headcanon I just like a lot?

Alternatively I like to think she just swears every other sentence and this is why ZUN never gives her any speaking roles.

Unpopular opinion: I’m always under the impression Tojiko is quite proud to be a vengeful spirit. Part of it is convenience but I’m pretty sure this is like, a thing, high ranking Soga politicians (them later becoming vengeful spirits, I mean).

I’ve recently developed the idea that she’s rather attached to the Soga name as being part of who she is. It sticks out to me her Overdrive card, “Vengeful Spirit Iruka’s Thunder” appeared again in Grimoire of Usami and I think coupled with the fact she’s she then explicitly state she still has a grudge...I think she’s still taking the fall of the Soga clan super hard.

Honestly, I feel like in general a lot of people play up her tender-heart but I welcome more explorations of her as a fearsome warrior and politician more...

Song i associate with them: Ephemeral Unnatural Balence’s Unfired Jar of Awakened Vengeance

I’d like her to get a boss theme that would reflect what fighting her would be like.

Favorite picture of them: Soero has a really funny one where it has Futo, Miko, Okina, and Tojiko in their past lives and Mononobe no Moriya burning Buddhist statues in order to roast some fish and Soga no Umako is whacking him for that. I love the fact Moriya’s tear is exactly the same tear you see in Futo’s defeat sprite from Ten Desires, but what really makes it is that Tojiko is 1 year old in the image and she has the look of being 1000% done.

Even at one year old, she knew she’d be in for a life of some serious bullshit.

What’s even better is that this artist knows this is my favorite image from them.

#mononobe no futo #soga no tojiko #pure rambling

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captainsolare · 4 years ago

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Summary: Hitoshi Shinso, manager of Open Mic coffee shop, is part of a Lonely Hearts Club, a club where you place ads in the newspaper to meet potential partners. You and Shinso have been corresponding via letters for months, falling for each other even though you have never met, nor have any idea as to what you look like. When you walk into the very coffee shop he works at, looking for a job, will you find a rival, or a soulmate?

Word Count: 8,921

Tags: SheLovesMe AU , Coffeeshop AU, Quirkless AU , f!reader, enemies to lovers

Characters: Y/N, Shinso, Midoriya, Denki, Mina, Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic), Shouta Aizawa (Eraserhead)

A/N: This was a huge labor of love for me, I adapted my favorite musical into a BNHA Coffee shop AU and I enjoyed every second of it. I decided to post this today (Oct. 6th) to celebrate my 5 month anniversary of becoming a writing blog. I hope you enjoy it! This is not a direct copy of the musical, I took a lot of the plot points out of my adapted story line and added things of my own of course. There are a few direct quotes from the musical embedded in here!

TW: If you watch the original musical, there are mentions of attempted suicide. In my written adaptation, that is not included because it is a subplot and irrelevant.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did creating it. Special thanks to @library-of-grimoires for helping me brainstorm ideas for which BNHA character I chose.

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The air was warm with the last dregs of summer, a slight breeze stirring the air. Mina and Kaminari were outside the Open Mic coffee shop, getting ready to open up for the day. A delivery boy sped past on his bike, ringing the bell with a wave. Mina waved at him, taking a break from cleaning the outer windows. Denki was sweeping the sidewalk, but stopped to wipe his brow. “You know, we should totally skip work today and go on a picnic or something.” Mina smiled and stretched, “I know right! The weather feels amazing today.”

Shinso and Midoriya came strolling up, overhearing their friends’ conversation. Shinso chuckled, “Too bad Aizawa would kill us if we did.” Midoriya nodded in agreement and Denki hung his head, “Yeah, you’re right.” Shinso went inside, surveying the progress Mina and Denki had already made. The chairs were placed at the tables, the counter was clean, the fridge was stocked, Midoriya flipped the sign on the door to, “Open,” and they braced themselves for the morning rush.

When things finally slowed down, Shinso leaned on the counter, being the manager of this shop wasn’t easy, but luckily he had something to get him through the tough days. He absentmindedly brought his hand to his apron pocket, the letter from his “Dear friend” was there, its presence almost comforting. “Thinking about your, “friend” again?” Denki asked, the air quotes conveying exactly what he thought of the situation. Shinso smiled lazily at him, “And if I am?” Denki frowned, “Did she at least include a photo this time? Have you set a date to meet yet?” Shinso stood up, “No. And no.”

Aizawa came down from the upstairs loft with a frown, “Less chatting, more coffee making!” He yelled, before strolling out the front door. “Yes sir!” Everyone called after him. Hizashi padded down the stairs after him, “Oh ignore him, he’s in a grumpy mood today. The man never gets enough sleep at night.” Hizashi soon directed his attention on Shinso and he cringed, knowing what was coming. “So, Hitoshi, when are you going to settle down? You’ve been a bachelor for way too long.” Shinso stammered out some excuse, but luckily a delivery boy arrived, interrupting the awkward conversation. “Ooh! They’re here!” Hizashi exclaimed, clapping his hands excitedly.

“What’s here?” Midoriya asked, observing the piles of boxes arriving that they’d need to unpack. “Why, only the best thing ever!” Hizashi exclaimed, opening one of the boxes and pulling out a black leather box. He opened it and a happy little tune played, Hizashi’s smile widening as it played. After the tune stopped, there was silence, “Okay, that’s great sir. But what is it for?” Denki asked. “To hold things!” He exclaimed, as if it were obvious. “But, will anyone buy them?” Shinso asked.

Hizashi laughed outright at that, “You’ll see! These will be selling like hotcakes.” He caught sight of Shinso’s quirked eyebrow and smirked. “I’ll make you a bet kid, I bet we’ll sell our first one within 1 hour.” Hizashi emphasized one by sticking a finger in his face, Shinso backed up, hands raised in defense, “I really don’t want to take your money, sir.”

“Oh I see, the coward doesn’t want to lose his money.” Mina teased, piping up from where she was restocking the cabinets. Shinso bristled at her comment, “Alright, you’re on!” One by one customers trailed in, and each time, Hizashi tried to get them to buy his musical “holding boxes.” Each time, he was unsuccessful, leaving Shinso with a big smile on his face.

Hizashi had to go to the upstairs loft for a moment, and Shinso checked his watch. Only 10 minutes left. The front door chimed and Shinso stood up straight, “Hello ma’am, can I get you anything today?”

You glanced at him, a nervous expression on your face. “No.” You said. Shinso was slightly taken aback, “Uh… Okay.” You stood there, a blank expression on your face for a moment, Shinso started to turn away, needing to attend to something when you seemingly snapped out of it. “Oh actually yes.” Shinso smoothed his apron and turned back to face you, plastering a smile on his face, “Okay, would you like a tea?” “No.” You replied.

One by one he went through all the items on the menu, and you said no to all of them. “Pardon me, but that’s,” Shinso paused awkwardly, “everything on the menu.” He shot a glance at Midoriya, hoping his coworker could offer some semblance of help, but he only shrugged his shoulders and began helping the next customer that came in. “Is Mr. Aizawa here by chance? Or Mr. Yamada?” You asked, gripping the handle of your bag with what looked like white knuckle strength.

Shinso cocked his head, “Maybe, I think they’re upstairs.” You looked hopeful at his words, standing up a little taller, but your hopes were dashed when he finished, “But, they’re both very busy today.” “Oh,” You said, crestfallen, “I don’t mind waiting!” You said, striding over to one of the nearby tables and sitting down, Shinso came out from behind the counter to follow you. “May I ask why you need to speak with them? As the manager, I can take a message.” You shook your head adamantly, “I’d rather speak with them directly if possible.” You clenched your hands together awkwardly, playing with your fingers. Shinso let out a small, almost inaudible sigh, “Okay, can I ask your name at least?” “L/N! Y/N L/N.” You replied. “Okay Ms. L/N, I’ll go tell them you’re here.”

Shinso started to leave, motioning to Midoriya that he’d be back soon, but you stopped him by tapping his shoulder. He stiffened at the sudden contact but turned to face you with a smile on his face, Oh the joys of customer service. “Yes ma’am?” He asked. You cocked your head to the side, demeanor as awkward as when you first walked in, “One more thing, you’re still, hiring right?” You asked. Shinso narrowed his eyes, “Are you… looking for a job?”

You put your hands up, “Guilty as charged!” You admitted, chuckling a little. Shinso pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, Seriously? I’m not even in charge of hiring. A job? In this economy? Shinso began to walk away once more, as more customers were entering the shop and he needed to actually do his job. “I’m a great barista!” You called after him, there was no way you were missing this chance. “I know coffee like nobody’s business! I even have a letter of recommendation.” Denki made eye contact with Shinso, gesturing that he had the new customers covered and so he turned back to you. “A letter of recommendation? For a coffee shop gig?” He asked. You nodded, muttering to yourself as you rummaged around in your bag for your letter. You kept putting item after item into his arms, only serving to get him even more annoyed than he already was. What the heck is this girl’s problem? Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went off as you remembered where you had actually put the letter, you reached into your back pocket and pulled it out, “Aha! Here it is!” You looked at Shinso and seeing his look of irritation, sheepishly held your bag open so he could put your things back inside. He unceremoniously did so and gritted his teeth, “Look, I’m sure you’re wonderful. And I’m sure that letter is really something, but the truth is, we aren’t hiring right now.”

Your face fell, “What? But I saw on the website that---” At that moment, Aizawa appeared, “What’s going on here Shinso?” He asked, eyes flicking between the two of you, “Perhaps I can be of assistance.” Shinso put his hand on his hip smugly, “She wants a job.” He said, gesturing towards you with his thumb. “What?!” Aizawa exclaimed, taken aback, “Out of the question.” He began to walk away from you, people seemed to be doing that a lot to you lately, but you followed him, trying to stand up for yourself and give him the letter.

You looked around desperately, looking for any chance to prove yourself. Your eyes zeroed in on the back wall display, a woman was looking at a leather box. You strode over, confidence renewed, “Aren’t these just wonderful?” You piped up, smiling at the woman. She glanced at you, “I suppose so, but what are they for?” You sent Shinso a panicked glance but he simply shook his head, not willing to help you in this situation. You shake off his rejection and turned back to the customer, stretching your hands out to her. She placed the box in your hands, watching to see what you’d do with it.

You opened the box and the tune began to play, “Why, it’s a musical jewelry box of course!” You said with a smile. Shinso blinked, A musical jewelry box? Seriously? The woman tipped her head, “A musical jewelry box? Why would I need one of those?” You studied her for a moment, eyes drawn to her engagement ring. “Pardon me for asking ma’am, but do you by chance have a partner at the moment?” The woman nodded with a smile, glancing down at her ring. “And you like jewelry?” The woman nodded once more. Your face brightened with a smile, “Well, this is perfect for you! If you buy this box, your partner will have no choice but to buy you jewelry to put in it.”

Shinso watched this exchange with a roll of his eyes, shoving down the fear that maybe he’d lose his bet. “And the tune?” You continued, “Whenever your partner hears it, they’ll know how much you appreciate the gifts they gave you. Just imagine the smile on their face, all because of this box.” Hizashi came downstairs near the end of this exchange, watching with a smirk on his face. “I’ll take it!” The woman says. Shinso chokes as Hizashi practically cheers at the sale. He rushes down the stairs grabbing your hands and saying, “You’re hired!” Shinso’s jaw drops, “What?!”

Shinso stood there, dumbstruck at the whole situation. Hizashi snapped him out of it with a tap to his shoulder, “Now Shinso, if you please.” He said, extending his hand. Shinso grumbled while he fumbled in his pockets for the money they had bet. He watched you conversing with your new coworkers and he grumbled once more, the irritation bubbling within him. “I’m taking my break.” He muttered, strolling out the front door and heading to a nearby bench. He wasn’t one to smoke, but if he was, there would definitely be a cigarette in his hand.

His sun was dulled by your shadow as you stood in front of him awkwardly; he lazily opened an eye and looked in your direction. “Can I help you?” He asked, coming off a little harsher than he intended. You rocked back and forth from your heels, to the balls of your feet, “I’m sorry for making you lose your bet.” He cocked an eyebrow, “That’s all? I don’t care.” He stood up and smoothed his apron, then returned to the coffee shop, leaving you standing there alone. You clenched your fist, Ugh! The nerve of this guy!

Fall came, and with it a sense of new opportunity, and more letters. You had yours tucked in your pocket, ready to be taken to the post office after work; you walked in the door with a smile, “Happy October!” Midoriya groaned, “October? That means our seasonal drinks will be here soon.” Mina seemed to be getting a flashback to some terrible event as she shuddered, “Pumpkin Spice season.”

You soon learned just how terrible ‘Pumpkin Spice season’ truly was, those days you could never quite catch your breath. Your relationship with Shinso was still rocky, but during the hectic days when he could see you were struggling he seemed to be a bit kinder to you. You went to a nearby restaurant on your lunch break and pulled out the letter you had received from Dear Friend, you felt your heart skip a beat as you held it, you had only picked it up this morning so you hadn’t gotten the chance to read it yet.

Dear Friend,

I hope this letter finds you well, you are my only source of peace these days. Everywhere I look I find something else that annoys me, and work is as hectic as ever, it’s always worse during this season, but things just feel harder. I find solace in your letters though, I can always count on you to bring a smile to my face. I’m glad to hear that your new job is going well, I hope that one coworker you’re having issues with sees how wonderful you truly are.

Talk soon,

Your friend.

You felt your heart swell as you read it, and you sighed dreamily as you held the letter to your chest. There was something familiar about the scent coming off of the pages, but you couldn’t quite place it. Denki joined you at your table, jolting you from your daydreaming and you jumped. “What’s that?” He asked, curious as to the papers you were holding. You quickly tucked them away in your bag, “Oh it’s nothing! A friend of mine sent me a letter. I love getting letters, don’t you?” Denki shrugged as he took a bite of his sandwich, “I guess so, but isn’t it easier to send a text message?”

November was soon upon you, and there was tension in the air. Shinso had been even more on edge than usual, and your fighting was worse than ever. You were on your lunch break with Mina when you decided to bring it up with her. “Hey Mina?” You asked, looking across to the pink girl. “Yeah, what’s up? Something on your mind?” You leaned on your elbow and sighed, playing absentmindedly with your straw wrapper. “I just, I just feel like Shinso just doesn’t like me very much. Ever since I came here, he hasn’t been nice to me at all.” You lamented. Mina chewed on her lip thoughtfully, “Well, if you want my opinion on things, from an outsider’s perspective, it seems like you haven’t been very nice to him either. Have you considered his feelings about it? Whenever you see each other it’s like two magnets repelling.”

Her words stung in a way you had no idea they would, she was right, you really hadn’t considered his feelings about your treatment of him. You tapped your finger on the table, considering her words and what you could do to be the bigger person in all this. “Thanks Mina, that’s very helpful.”

The next morning, you arrived to work early and helped Shinso without being asked. Shinso was surprised at your behavior, he supposed he should have just accepted it as kindness but there was something in him, the suspicious part of him that made him feel annoyed instead. First, you were helping him sweep, then you were sorting things that he normally sorted, then you were offering to stay late so he didn’t have to. Finally he’d had enough, “Do you think I can’t do my job or something? What’s your problem today?” He asked, words injected with venom, hands on his hips. Tears burned in the back of your eyes, “I-I didn’t think that at all. I just thought--”

“Thought what? That I needed your help? Even though I’ve been at this job way longer than you have?” He interrupted. You didn’t bother to reply, just grabbed your bag and stormed off into the night, not willing to let him see your tears. Midoriya and Mina stared. “That was, highly uncalled for man.” Midoriya said, before returning to sweeping. Mina walked out after you, but not before sending a scathing glare Shinso’s way. Midoriya finished sweeping and left; Shinso was still frozen in place, left alone in the empty coffee shop.

The next day, Shinso received your letter and it felt like he had failed you, well, Dear Friend. As he read it, he replayed the scene of you walking out into the night, and was filled with regret. I should, apologize.

Dear Friend,

I think this week I will try to be kinder. Too often I have not considered the consequences of my words and actions and as a result, people I care about have gotten hurt. So this week I am going to try on kindness. I challenge you to do the same.

Talk soon,

Your Friend

December came, and like the cold weather you met his apology with stony silence. As time passed, you retained a professional work relationship, though barbed words were still tossed between you, they were less sharp than before. Shinso was outside, reading a paper of some kind when you walked up to him. “Good Morning Shinso!” You said, warmly. Shinso glanced at you and made a big show of checking his watch, “Ah, Ms. L/N, I see you’re on time today. Congratulations!” He replied, a fake smile plastered on his face. You returned his fake smile, “So sorry to disappoint you Shinso.”

You headed for the door but he put an arm out to stop you, “Oh but I’m not disappointed, far from it. Let’s call it… surprised.” He chuckles and you chuckle too, but yours served to mock him. Instead of gracing him with a reply, you entered the shop and slammed the door before you could follow him through it.

Denki and Midoriya were sweeping the walk and cleaning the windows, watching the exchange with a mixture of confusion and amusement. “They always argue, why is that?” Denki asked, looking up at his coworker. Midoriya glanced down at him, “Oh it’s simple really. Sometimes when two people like each other very much---” “Wait wait wait! They like each other?” Midoriya nodded, “I think so.” Denki cocked his head to the side, “Well don’t you think we should tell them?” Midoriya stepped off the stepladder with a laugh, “Trust me, they’d never believe us.”

A week passed, and you were at home, reading and rereading your letter from Dear Friend.

Dear Friend,

Have you set your calendar for Tuesday? I can’t wait to meet you, I feel as though I already know your soul, and I can’t wait to match a face to what I already know.

See you soon,

Your friend

You squealed and held the letter to your chest, collapsing back on your bed. I can’t believe I get to meet him tonight! You rolled over and glanced at the clock, Perfect, still plenty of time to get to work. You got ready for the day, nervous as you had ever been, you changed outfits dozens of times, wanting to look perfect for this life-changing date, finally you settled on an outfit, dressy but not too dressy, but it still looked good as hell on you if you did say so yourself. You glanced at your clock, “Crap! I’m late.”

Shinso sat in the upstairs of the coffee shop, reading your letter over and over.

Dear Friend,

I’m waiting warmly for our date, even though it’s quite cold out these days. Until then, I count the hours until I’m with you.

See you soon,

Your friend

His heart was nearly beating out of his chest, and he had a goofy smile on his face. “Hot date tonight?” Aizawa asked, causing his cheeks to turn a deep shade of red. “Th-that’s none of your business sir!” Aizawa chuckled, “So that’s a yes then, it’s about time. I hope it goes well.”

You rushed into the shop, smoothing your clothes once you were inside. “Good morning Y/N!” Mina said warmly, smiling at you. You waved breathlessly, “Am I terribly late? Has Shinso noticed yet.” “No and no. He’s upstairs right now.” You felt yourself instantly relax, having him lecture you on a day as important as this one was something you didn’t think you could handle. “By the way, you look stunning today babe!” Mina said, wrapping her arms around you for a quick hug. You smiled and took a step back, doing a spin for good measure. “You really think so?” “We do! Right boys?” She said, gesturing for Denki and Midoriya to compliment you as well.

They chorused their agreement and your smile grew wider. “Thank you all, I was so nervous it took me forever to get dressed this morning. Which is why I’m so late.” You grimaced. Denki surfaced from behind the counter. “Oh? I know what that means. Our little Y/N is in love. And you’re meeting with them tonight!” Denki said, elbowing your side and waggling his eyebrows. Midoriya rolled his eyes, “And how would you know that?” Mina looked at him with wide eyes, “Oh didn’t you hear? Denki is our resident expert in love. Which is quite remarkable considering that he’s never been in it.” Mina teased, sticking her tongue out at the blonde.

Shinso came down the stairs and you stiffened, bracing yourself to be yelled at, but he simply said good morning and walked right past you to go behind the counter. Your eyes widened and you leaned in close to Mina. “He didn’t yell at me. What’s wrong with him today?” You whispered. Mina shrugged, “Dunno. He has seemed pretty preoccupied by something today though.”

“Dammit!” Shinso yells as he spills whipped cream all over his shirt. Denki quickly heads back to where he is and helps him clean up. “Dude, what’s up with you today? You’re so nervous I can feel you vibrating.” Shinso’s hands shake as he wipes off the whipped topping, “Well, you know, big day haha.” Denki quirks an eyebrow, “Big day? What’s up?” Shinso wrings his hands nervously, “Well, I’m meeting her tonight.” Denki gasps, “The letter girl!” Shinso claps his hand over Denki’s mouth and nods, looking around and praying that no one heard his outburst.

The two headed upstairs where they could speak more privately. “So… Face to face at last.” Denki says, a lazy smile on his face. Shinso nods as he paces back and forth. Denki sighs, “Well, I tell you what, I hope she’s everything you’ve dreamed her to be.” Shinso leans back against the railing, looking up at the ceiling, “Can I be honest with you Denki? I hope she isn’t.” Denki looked up sharply, a judging look on his face. “Because,” he continued, “If she’s as beautiful, or as smart, or as funny as I think she is, then what will she think of me?”

“Can I be honest with you? I think it’ll go just fine; because you’re smart, and you’re funny and handsome, not as handsome as me of course, but still handsome. And if she can’t see that, it’s her loss.” Shinso shot him a look at the handsome part but still let a small smile cross his face. “Sorry man, I’m just nervous and upset. We’ve never met and I get to meet her, tonight, at eight.” He kneaded his forehead, “Geez, I can already feel how much of a nightmare today is going to be,” He looked at his watch, “Oh lucky me, 3 more minutes, 2 more seconds, 10 more hours to go!”

Downstairs, you and Mina were stocking the shelves with holiday items. “So... “ Mina nudged you. You hummed in response,” Your hot date tonight, what’re they like? I want to know everything!” Your hand came to a stop near the shelf, “Well, the truth is, I’ve never met him.” Mina gasps, “Never? So this is a blind date?” You shook your head, “No. I know him, we’ve just never met.” You and Mina continued to stock the shelves as you talked. “How can that be?” She asked.

You turned to her with a smile, “Letters, so many letters.” Mina widened her eyes, “You belong to a Lonely Heart’s Club?!” You closed your eyes and nodded, embarrassed. “To be perfectly honest with you, I was just as surprised as you are. But, I saw his ad in the paper and we started talking.” Mina looked at you skeptically, “What if he’s like old?” You shook your head, “Don’t be silly, the advertisement says ‘young man.’”

“You haven’t even asked for a photo?” Mina asked, flabbergasted as you shook your head once more. You sat back on your knees and looked at her, “I don’t know his name or what he looks like, but really I don’t need those things. I know what he looks like on the inside and that’s what's important. I know that he’s kind, and soft-spoken, and nice, and terribly well-educated. And he was often the only thing that made me smile on the hard days. That’s what matters to me,” You stretched, “I wasn’t sure about this whole thing at first, but somehow, somehow he made me fall for him through words alone.”

Mina smiled as she stood, “Well I hope things work out tonight.” She helped you stand, and you stepped back to admire your work. You were in the middle of high-fiving when Shinso came down the stairs. “Hey everyone! Aizawa wants us to stay late to put up Holiday decorations.” Your heart dropped, “Um, Shinso? I can’t.” He gawked at you, “And why not?” You put your hands up, “I have a date, you know that!” Shinso made a face, “I know no such thing.” You placed your hands on your hips, “How can you say that? Why do you think I dressed up today? For my own personal health or something?”

Shinso shook his head, not in the mood to argue. “Honestly, I have no idea why you dressed up. But either way, I’m just following Mr. Aizawa’s directions.” You leaned against the counter, “Why did he have to pick this one night?” You gasped and looked at Shinso, “Unless it was you who picked it! Because you knew that I had plans.” Shinso stared at you in disbelief. “You know, it’s depressing to know that you hate me that much.”

He narrowed his eyes, “I do not hate you!” He objected, then he sighed. “Look, can we have a truce?” He extended his hand to you. You took it with a smile, “Of course Shinso, anytime. After all, it’s always you who starts these things.” You start to walk away but he pulls you back at your words. “Oh I’m the one?!” He raised his voice, offended that you would say such a thing. You nodded adamantly, “Yes! Admit it, you’ve resented me since the moment I got here.” He scoffed and let go of your hand like it burned him. “For the record, I don’t resent you.”

The two of you began to walk in opposite directions but suddenly Shinso whirled around, causing you to do the same. “But if I did!” He yelled, “I would have good reason to!” You looked at him indignantly, “Is this about that bet? The one I made you lose? Because that’s a petty reason to resent someone.” “I already told you I don’t!” You rolled your eyes and stormed away from him, straight outside to the bench, you needed a moment to cool down. “That must be the rudest, most difficult, worst-tempered girl in the world!” Shinso yelled.

The rest of the day passed without much incident; in the end, you did get to leave as you planned. It began to snow as you walked to the restaurant, each step growing more hesitant. You gripped your copy of Little Women tighter in your hand, praying that the night would go well. Will he like me? You wondered, Will I be what he’s imagined me to be? Can I live up to the expectations I set in the letters? The restaurant was on the corner coming up, you reached it, and paused at the door. There would be no hiding behind your paper and pen tonight, he was going to see the real you. You were jostled by a couple walking past you to enter the building and snapped out of it. He must be in the same boat I am. I’m sure he’s just as nervous as me.

You shook off your nervousness and gathered the courage to walk inside. You greeted the host, and were seated at a table, your date was nowhere to be seen yet. Tapping your foot anxiously, you set the book on the table sitting up where it would be visible, and you pulled the rose, the other calling card of your correspondence, from your bag.

Back at the coffee shop, Shinso was barreling in through the door. Denki looked at him in surprise, “Why are you back? Didn’t you have a date like now?” Shinso nodded breathlessly, “I do. I was almost there but I got nervous and ended up running all the way back here. Will you go with me?” Denki nodded, untying his apron quickly and hanging it back on its hook. Once they were outside they could talk more freely. “So… why did you want me to go?” He asked. Shinso sent him a nervous glance, “I’m too nervous to look first.” He admitted, “I need you to look. She’ll be sitting alone, with a red rose and a copy of ‘Little Women’. And I have my rose, I’m going to tuck it in my breast pocket.” Denki smiled, “Oh I see. You want me to do a little surveillance, ease your nerves a little bit.” Shinso nodded, they would be approaching the restaurant soon.

You sipped your water nervously as the hour grew later. Has something happened to him? Is he not coming? Did he already come and leave? The waiter came by once more, “Can I get you anything ma’am?” You shook your head politely, “Not yet. It should only be a little longer.” I hope.

The boys entered the restaurant, Shinso trailing behind. Once they were inside, Denki elbowed him. “Where’s the rose?” He asked. When Shinso didn’t answer, he was smacked on the arm. “Oh, um, here.” Shinso pulled a wilted rose from his pocket. Denki made a face that was a mixture of pity and confusion, but he didn’t vocalize his thoughts. “Give it to me.” He said, pulling it from his grasp. He neatly tucked it into his breast pocket, then ran his fingers on Shinso’s hair, smoothing it. “Okay deep breaths buddy, I’ll go take a look at your future wife.” He said, tapping the front of his friend’s shoulder lightly.

Denki awkwardly weaved through the tables, scrutinizing every guest for the items he needed to look for. Each person he made eye contact with looked extremely uncomfortable by the situation but he brushed it off. I have a job to do. One table near the wall, the person had the menu in front of their face so he stood precariously on his tiptoes to peer over it. Instead of a pretty young girl, he was met with the face of an elderly man, “Oh, I’m sorry sir. Have a nice meal.”

He was nearing the last table, in the corner of the restaurant. He gasped when he saw the occupant, it was you, dressed up with a book on the table, a rose tucked in as the bookmark. He froze and did the only thing he could think to do, he ripped the scarf from his neck and held it in front of his face as he made a hasty retreat back to Shinso’s side.

Shinso saw his friend’s pale face and his heart dropped, eyes wide with concern. “She’s old. She’s old and ugly and has no teeth? That must be it.” Denki shook his head, “I… wouldn’t say that.” Shinso hit his fists together, “Well there must be something wrong! You’re terrible at hiding things Denki.” Denki grimaced, “Well, she’s actually very attractive.”

Shinso felt his cheeks warm, “Really?” He hesitated, “Will I think so?” Denki shrugged, “Beauty’s a subjective thing, but I think so. She looks like…” Shinso interjected, “Some famous person! Right?” He started listing off names but his friend shook his head at every one. “Someone from our shop.” Denki finished. Shinso gave him an incredulous look, “Our shop? The coffee shop?”

Denki put his finger up, as if to reply, but he hesitated. “Just spit it out already!” Shinso snapped. “Well, she looks a little like… Miss Y/N.”

“Wait wait wait, Miss L/N Y/N? Our L/N Y/N?” Shinso asked, his heart beating a million miles an hour. What could this mean? Denki nodded and his heart dropped again. “No no no, that’s not right. You’re joking.” Denki shook his head adamantly, “No I’m not. This girl is the spitting image of our coworker, and your nemesis.” Shinso shook his head, there was no way this was true. It just wasn’t possible, you were abrasive and sarcastic, there was no way you were the girl from the letters. “Take a look for yourself, last table in the back corner.” Denki said.

Shinso did an almost identical repeat of Denki’s path a few moments ago. He weaved through the tables, and there in the corner, just as Denki said, you were. Shinso froze, then bolted, almost running out into the night, but Denki grabbed him. “You are not going to just leave her there. Go over there like an adult, and figure things out. I expect a status report in the morning. Good luck comrade.” Denki gave Shinso a mock salute and left, leaving him alone at the front of the restaurant.

Shinso reluctantly made his way to the back of the restaurant, mind running at a million miles an hour. He was in love with you? No way, it was all a mistake. It had to be. Shinso shoved the rose and book back into his bag, unwilling to give himself away. He cleared his throat and you looked up, nearly falling out of your chair. “What the hell are you doing here?” You hissed, anger starting to bubble up inside you. Shinso clenched his fist, bouncing it in the air, “Just out for a drink. How about yourself?” You stared at him, “I’m waiting for someone.” You replied, as if it were obvious. “Anyone in particular?” He asked.

“Obviously,” You replied flatly, “Like I said before, I didn’t get dressed up for nothing.” “Well, I could keep you company while you wait.” He offered, moving to sit down. You put an arm out to stop him, “Absolutely not. I told you that seat is reserved for someone very important.” A look of disappointment crossed his face, “So you won’t let me stay?” You weren’t sure what made you cave, but you relented. “Fine. 30 seconds.”

There was silence for a moment, when a thought hit you. “Shinso, are you spying on me?” You asked suspiciously, frustration welling up. “Didn’t believe me when I said I had a date so you have to come see for yourself?” Your voice rose, you were practically yelling. Shinso snorted, “Miss L/N. Who would I be spying for? Mr. Aizawa? Don’t be ridiculous.” You met his excuse with a glare, “Shinso, your time is up. If you don’t leave immediately I will have you thrown out!”

The waiter appeared, “Excuse me miss, I hate to be a bother but could you and your husband either quiet down or fight elsewhere?” Your jaw dropped, “H-h-husband?!” You exclaimed, flabbergasted by the notion, “This man is not my husband. This is a business associate.” “Oh well pardon me. Either way, you will need to quiet down for the comfort of our other guests.” Shinso stifled a chuckle as the waiter left, leaving you with a seething look on your face.

Shinso leaned forward on his elbow, “So. Have you known this person long? The one you’re waiting for?” You turned your seething glare on him, “Frankly, that’s none of your business.” A thought struck you that sent pangs of panic through your body, What if he’s already come here? What if he saw us together and left? “Can you just leave, please?” A wave of panic washed over you. “Now why would I do that? It’s not proper for a man to keep a lady waiting. Even if they are an old friend, a dear friend.”

You sighed, “I really don’t want to discuss this with you Shinso.” The song coming through the speakers changed, a classical song came drifting to your ears. “Ahh I love this tune.” Shinso reminisced, “My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid.” “Mine to you replied.” Shinso gasped, “Miss L/N! Do you realize what this means? We have something in common!” “Hmm.” You hummed, “Well, it’s too bad I was the only one who grew up.” You replied, a fake smile plastered on your face.

Shinso met your smile with a fake one of his own; he knew this was wrong, playing with your feelings like this, but he couldn’t resist. He had no intention of telling you tonight, he wanted to test the waters first instead of shocking you with the news. “Ahh I see what’s going on here. You’re nervous because you’ve never met this person before!” You tensed at his words, confirming his suspicions.

The minutes passed, Shinso kept telling you horror stories he’d seen in the news about Lonely Hearts Clubs. You’d had enough of his nonsense for the night. You clenched your fists, and hit them on the table. “If you don’t leave right now, I will scream.” Shinso tried to interject, but your rant had begun, and it was an unstoppable flood. “You know? Dante once described all the depths of Hell. Maybe after this you should go there, you’d fit right in!” “Miss L/N---”

You stood, “Shinso! You are easily the most insufferable, insensitive man I have ever met.” Shinso scoffed, “I’m surprised at you.” but he made no move to leave. You gritted your teeth, “Fine, be that way. I’m sorry to have to do this.” You screamed, and before you knew what was going on, you and Shinso were out on the street in front of the restaurant. “Oh no.” You whispered, tears pouring down your cheeks. Shinso stood in front of you, he hadn’t meant for things to happen this way. You hit your fists on his chest as you cried, but it didn’t hurt him. “I’ll never forgive you for this.”

Shinso led you to a nearby bench, and you sat in silence for a long while. You looked up at him with tearfilled eyes, your eyes met his purple ones, ones filled with an emotion you couldn’t quite name. “Haven’t you had enough? Are you happy now? You got your revenge on me?” You sniffled sadly, “I genuinely don’t understand you, Shinso.” Shinso snorted, “How could you Miss L/N? You’ve never taken the time to get to know me.” You chuckled darkly and wiped the tears from your eyes, anger washing over you once more. “I know you plenty well. I know you’re just a not very smart, not very handsome man with the personality of a python.” The words stung Shinso, even though he probably deserved them, and he stood.

“Have a good night Miss L/N.” He said, voice tinged with a sadness that made your heart sting. “Wait!” You yelled as he walked away, “Oh Shinso, I didn’t mean all those things.” You reached after his retreating form with a futile hand. Soon he disappeared from view, leaving you alone in the chilly night. You waited on the bench, tears hot against your cold skin as you waited. You weren’t exactly sure what you were waiting for, for Shinso to come back?, for your mystery friend to arrive? You weren’t hopeful for either of those things, and yet you waited. Of course, it’s snowing. You thought to yourself, chuckling at your circumstances. “Oh well, I’ve been waiting for this person my whole life, what’s a few more hours?”

Somehow you made it home, but you didn’t care how late it was; no way in hell you were going to work tomorrow. You wouldn’t give Shinso the satisfaction of seeing you this way, you felt defeated, and you blamed him. You got into your pajamas, and slipped into bed, cursing the whole day.

The next day Shinso arrived at work, and you were nowhere to be found. “Miss L/N is not coming in today. She texted me.” Mina told Mr. Aizawa. Shinso overheard this and his heart clenched, he had royally messed up last night. “Hey Mina, what is L/N’s favorite food?” He asked awkwardly. Mina gave him a strange look, but gave him the answer. He made some excuse for leaving and headed to the corner store, and then to your place. He hesitated before knocking, would you be upset I came here? He wondered.

There was a knock at your door, “Who is it?” You asked hoarsely. You dragged yourself out of bed and to the front door, “Miss L/N? It’s me.” The voice sounded familiar, but with your pounding head you couldn’t place it. You opened it to find Shinso, “Oh, it’s you.” You slammed the door in his face, wincing at the bang. You grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around your form, then opened the door.

“I was--- in the neighborhood.” He said, awkwardly. You gestured for him to come inside and sat on the couch. “What do you want? If it’s about last night, just spit it out. I’m not feeling well today.” “So I heard.” He replied, setting the corner store bag on the floor. “You knew I was sick?” You asked, surprised. “I overheard Mina telling Aizawa about it.” “Oh.”

Suspicion welled up within you and you narrowed your eyes at him. “So, you decided to come here, and make sure I was really sick. You thought I was faking it!” Shinso shook his head in protest, “No! Believe it or not, I was actually worried about you.” You stood up suddenly and retreated to your room, rummaging around in your closet. Shinso followed you and stood in the doorway, “Um, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m getting ready for work, obviously.” You said, tossing a shoe haphazardly over your shoulder. “That’s not a good idea.” Shinso said. You scoffed, turning over your shoulder to look at him. “And why not? Because you don’t want me to go to work?” Shinso grimaced at you, “No, it’s not that. It’s the fact that you’re obviously ill and we work in a coffee shop.” You stopped abruptly, “Oh. That’s a good point.”

You sat on the edge of your bed, feeling utterly defeated. You couldn’t even bring yourself to be mad at this man, the one you felt like you hated as he stood in the doorway of your bedroom. “Wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” Shinso asked quietly, he knew he couldn’t fix everything, he did leave last night without telling you the truth after all, but maybe listening was a start. You sighed and somehow slumped even further.

"It's just--" you hesitated to finish, but there was something in Shinso's face spurring you on, "I love him, y'know? And last night was so awful I just, I don't even know if I can face him." You heard a sharp intake of breath that was quickly disguised as a cough. You began to cry, and Shinso felt his heart sink, he had really done it this time. He made a move to sit next to you on the bed, to try and comfort you, but hesitated. When you didn’t object, he tentatively sat next to you and brought his arm around to pat you on the shoulder. “Miss L/N, I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself for last night at the restaurant. I’m so sorry I ruined the night for you.”

You shook your head, “No! Because honestly you were right, I hadn’t met him before. He was just someone who was writing letters to me--- such wonderful letters.” Your voice broke a little as you said the last words. “He never showed up?” He asked, though he already knew the answer. You shook your head, “No. I waited and waited but he never came.” Shinso grimaced and looked away, “I feel very responsible for that, I’m sorry.”

You laughed and it was the first smile he’d seen you crack all morning, “Well, it was kind of your fault that we got kicked out of the restaurant, but even so… If he had cared at all, he would have explained.”

Shinso stood up suddenly and you thought you had offended him somehow, but he came back with a paper sack in his arms. "Well," he said, handing you the convenience store bag, "I'm sure he'll reach out, maybe he feels the same way. I hope you feel better, I’d better head to the shop now since we’re understaffed. I’ll send the others your best!” “Hey Shinso?” You asked, not wanting to leave your thanks left unsaid, “I really appreciate you coming here today. Spending time with you has made me, like you.”

Shinso smiled and ran his fingers through his hair in that way he always did, “Thank you Miss L/N, goodbye now.” And with a click of your front door, you were alone, you took a moment, for some reason you were already missing his company, but you didn’t let yourself dwell on that notion for too long; You reached into the bag to examine its contents.

A smile was instantly brought to your face, the bag contained all of your favorite snacks. I wonder how he knew… Mina maybe? That would make sense. You opened one of the snacks and looked around your room, eyes landing on your paper and pen that lay on your desk. You decided that it would be a good option to reach out to your Friend first, and apologize for last night.

Dear Friend,

I am so sorry about last night, it was a nightmare in every way. But together you and I can laugh at last night someday

You tried to finish the letter, but kept getting distracted by thoughts of Shinso. The way he smelled, the way he was so nice to you this morning, the snacks he had brought, that he had cared to come here at all after the way you treated him last night. You grimaced at that last thought, I was so nasty to him. Well… he certainly deserved some of it but even so.

Things went on like this for a while, you would write, then a thought would intrude. You know what? We were together this morning, and for the first time, we didn’t fight! Well, miracles do happen I guess. Oh wait, where was I?

Dear friend, blah blah blah blablah,

The more you let the incident with Shinso this morning stew in your mind, the stranger you felt about it; It was like he had become a totally new person overnight. Not that you were complaining, he had brought you food, and he smelled nice. Oh no, you stiffened, am I starting to have feelings? For him?! You waved the notion away with your hand, Nah! This isn’t some enemies to lovers romcom!

Shinso was trying his best not to be giddy. You loved him?! Surprisingly, that was the best news he had heard all day. He shook his head in amazement as he walked back to the coffee shop, How could I not have seen it before? It’s so obvious she’s the person from the letters. And she loves me! And I, I think I love her too. He walked into the coffee shop and Denki immediately picked up on his emotional state. “Something good happen today?” He asked, giving him a sly smile. Shinso shrugged, “Maybe. I’ll tell you over lunch.” Denki nodded, and they got to work.

Lunchtime came quickly, and Shinso breathlessly told Denki the story. Denki hung on to every word, and had a smug smile on his face at the end of it. “See? What’d I tell ya? Everything turned out fine.” Shinso laughed, “I suppose you’re right. Forgive me for not always trusting your judgement.” Denki put his hands up, “No harm done man. So, when are you going to tell her?” he asked, leaning forward. Shinso took a sip of his drink thoughtfully, “Honestly, I don’t think I’m ready yet. She doesn’t love me persay, she loves the man from the letters. I’m not just going to tell her outright that it was me the whole time, then she might feel betrayed. I want to earn her love, as the real me.” Denki smiled, “Hitoshi, you are really cool sometimes.” He snorted in response, “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that ‘sometimes.’”

The days passed rather quickly after that, the holiday rush was upon the coffee shop and things were as busy as ever. “Care to grab lunch with me today Miss L/N?” Shinso asked, of course you agreed. This became a new ritual for the two of you, and soon he was walking you home from work as well. One winter afternoon it was snowing as you walked to grab lunch together, and you kept catching the snowflakes on your tongue. “You know that’s childish right?” He teased. You turned and stuck your tongue out at him, “Don’t. Care.”

Things had changed between you, you weren’t sure of the exact moment, but it had perhaps gone by without you even noticing. One day Midoriya brought up to you just how much it had changed, but you waved him off. “It hasn’t changed that much.” You said. You received a skeptical look in return, “Have you not noticed you’re on a first name basis with him now?” You blinked, then thought back to this morning, when the name Hitoshi passed through your lips as easy as water. “Oh.”

Mina was the one who brought this up to Shinso, and he was also taken slightly aback. Oh. I guess things really have changed. “I don’t mind the change though,” Mina continued, “I think it’s great you two are finally getting along! Someone had to get through that stubborn personality of yours.” “Oh quit teasing him Mina! You know he can’t handle it.” You interjected as you walked by, presents in your arms. “Oh! Are those for the party tonight?” Mina asked.

“Yes! You’re going right?” You asked, smiling at your friend. “Obvs! I’m so excited, presents and food with friends is the best part of the holidays.” You chuckled at her reply, “What about you Hitoshi? Are you coming?” You were painfully aware of the way his name felt in your mouth, it was almost too comfortable. He nodded, “Yes, I have some things I need to take care of here first though.” “Oh really? I’ll stay and help!” he tried to object, but if there was anything he had learned about you, it was that you were far too persistent to argue with.

And so you were left alone in the shop with Hitoshi Shinso, everyone else had gone on ahead to Aizawa’s house. “Are you excited for tonight? Your mystery man is coming right?” He asked, leaning the broom against the wall. “Of course! Excited, nervous, all of the above. And oh goodness, I am very nervous about that. You have so much in common with him, I’ll surely need you to help keep the conversation flowing.” You were facing away from him, straightening the shelves. “Yeah, about that…” His tone seemed off so you turned to face him, a questioning look on your face.

Shinso cleared his throat, “I am so sorry about last night, it was a nightmare in every way, but together you and I can laugh at last night someday.” He said quietly. You gasped, tears coming to your eyes. I’d only written those words to Dear Friend, so that must mean… “It was you? You were Dear Friend all along?” You asked breathlessly. He barely managed a nod when you were throwing your arms around him. “Hitoshi Shinso, you are a devil of a man you know that?” You laughed, and kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re not mad?” He asked, cheek warm at the place your lips had touched. “Of course not. Actually, I couldn’t be happier.” You replied, smiling as you watched your not-so-secret secret lover’s face light up with a beaming smile. “Well, that’s great. I’m glad I have you as my Dear Friend.” He said, slinking his arm around your waist. You walked to the party hand in hand, laughing about how you didn’t know sooner and how you had hated each other at first.

You rang the doorbell and Aizawa opened the door, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. You and Shinso looked at each other in confusion but you saw Hizashi standing behind him, pointing up. Mistletoe. You internally groaned, of course Aizawa would pull something like this. To your surprise, Shinso whirled you around and pulled you close, giving you a breathless kiss in front of all your coworkers. “I KNEW IT!” Midoriya yelled. Through fits of laughter, Aizawa invited you in. “Took you long enough, crazy kids.”

#shinso x reader #shinso fluff #enemies to lovers #she loves me #bnha coffeeshop au #bnha x reader #quirkless au #shinso hitoshi #aurora borealis

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floralkittygambler · 4 years ago

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@critical-hazbin @devils-advocutie @what-the-hazbin I have Gasu on notifs because I really loved the quality of his fanart (Velvet needs love ❤️). Confirmation hes part of the team, as well as designs some merch and runs the Val account (Good on him! His art is incredible, again Velvet needs more love ❤️) but I wanted some thoughts on this. Firstly, the auto translation is gonna be shit bc they usually are but I’m interested in the focus on Val’s sex appeal and staff interactions with the characters.

Personally, Val’s sex appeal. It’s subjective I suppose? But I feel making a pimp have that is really good PROVIDING it’s backed up with why it’s dangerous and the vile nature of such people in a genuinely threatening manner (publicly, he needs to show more affection to Angel and Vox in a way that seems believable, partnered with subtle hints that it’s fake and he’s a pos. avoid teen drama as it can look fun and appealing to kids!

As for staff interactions with fiction, do that in your own time and have fun - I implore! However when you’re publicly and professionally representing a product and company, you NEED a set layer of professionalism as well as empathy towards the consumers and your products potential impacts on them. This is TWO staff members publicly romanticising and interacting with a fictitious character in ways to appeal to ships and profession. Probablyfakeblond and Gasu have now publicly done this - now with younger audiences, this is dangerous to make pimps JUST seem ‘sexy’ and ‘quirky’, and make their behaviours seem fun. Because pimps really don’t care if you’re legal or not. An insecure teen who’s easily influenced and desperate enough for love, money or ‘clout’ is a walking dollar sign as far as they’re concerned. These folks are EXCELLENT at manipulation and reading body language. Val just appears... stupid, to be honest. And his faux teen drama excuse of a love life with Vox just makes both their threat levels seem disgustingly low and comedic - even the abuse is supposed to be a punchline (and if it’s not, this is a terrible way to present that).

Overall, these accounts could be fun and interesting insights to the HH/HB universe, but that potential is wasted on staff publicly making a teen drama of every character, ships being a focus, many characters being neglected INCLUDING main characters, personalities nullifying any decency in a good designed character, publicly interacting with characters in an almost ship bait way, clear displays of self indulgence, these making more of a mess of an already poorly stringed together plot line and overall...

The lack of professionalism and visible breaks in the fourth wall for staff indulgence (which almost shows off a privilege of the team in a NEGATIVE way - the privilege is in the art/characters/plot building NOT you’re ability to have people potentially ship you with your favourites, it’s blatantly unprofessional) is just... I COULD say cringeworthy at best but that just feeds into cringe culture (though I think we’d all cringe at someone walking on a path of Lego’s barefoot - make that the new cringe culture, things we cringe at legitimately whilst some madlad just doesn’t give a fuck and faces it - jackass style). In reality it’s lack of professionalism that seems to dismiss real toxic behaviours as quirky humour is appalling for a business. As a business woman, this really makes me nervous of the hands these shows are in as well as the mixed messages, lack of research and lack of compassion for the real world effects. The promotion of toxic behaviours being a ‘quirk’ (sexual harassment being ‘cute/romantic’ to full on abuse) especially towards the influencial minds of the audience is terrifying. The real message won’t just be lost - it already IS. Maybe I’m being too paranoid, but once you have kids in your life, you see the effects so much more clearly and it’s terrifying.

The staff aren’t treating this with the sensitivity it needs. It’s just a shagfest, self indulgent, imbalanced, plot holed, immaturely handled mess. I’d expect better behaviour from the staff - and this isn’t even roughing upon the member who appears to have some disturbing fixation towards rape. It isn’t just upsetting, it’s terrifying. They’ve let the underage work illegally on the products (Al comic - FULL ID PROOF IS A MUST IN HIRING). There’s been numerous accusations of art theft that are brushed under the rug, I’m incredibly concerned. Though it’s clear this is going to be a fucking mess. When Blitzos IG posted about “Wish me luck” on him having sex to keep the Grimoire, there was a glimmer of reality - fans actually showing concerns for the feelings of deep discomfort from Blitzos side. That is before Stolas posted, then all memories of Blitzos feeling were lost. Husk being upset with Angel or uncomfortable leads to fans harassing HIM for being ‘rude’ or ‘needing to apologise to Angel’ - why? For being uncomfortable? There’s a LOT of victim blaming for “uwu gae ships” that fetishisizes gays (gays are fuckin PEOPLE not some kink-) and then the canon gays such as Chaggie are given so much shit for “crushing fan dreams like chalastor”. Funny how compatibility is involved their but the second Husk and Blitz show discomfort and no compatibility, it’s “but it’s true gae lovezzz” - how disrespectful to sexual harassment victims (ESPECIALLY male victims who people already treat as a fucking joke-) as well as turning a sexuality into a kink. I’ll be honest, rl person x fiction isn’t my issue - it’s how they’re handling it. Are the staff a part of this universe then? Why? What do they contribute? Why is this their story? Or is this self indulgence that fellow staff and fans can uwu ship? There’s nothing wrong with real x fiction but their needs to be a limit (fixation is unhealthy and self indulgence so openly is far from professional standards).

PLEASE don’t fuck this up SpindleHorse. There’s potential here for something original and enthralling, please don’t waste this over temptation and immaturity.

Sorry to tag less and I hope you all can see this, just unwell.

#hazbin hotel #character development #vivienne medrano #concerned fan #think of the message you want to share and the delivery #the plot is a mess #back to basics #I’m sick so please forgive any error #room for discussion #stans and antis dni

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zelskzerker · 3 years ago

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Mangadex went down so I read alot 1/7

Lets review a bunch of isekai and related stuff I binged because mangadex went down. The scale will be a single thumbs up to a single thumbs down in terms of how much I would consider recommending it in general.

Legend

Chapters 1-51 Pretty straight forward in most aspects. For the best. Nothing crazy bad or good happening, making it surprisingly straight forward for an isekai. [Insert isekai startup here] but this time the MC is given a super magic body and the knowledge of ancient magic. Which he promptly uses to create a griffon buddy. Gets a THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER for just being a nice, believable stay in a world, but I have read some stuff that really has interesting sparks the way this doesnt. MC is brutal at times and General Princess is cute. They make a good pair for each other. Although there are no ecchi situations, that artist really knows how to slide in the lewds, whether its mid combat flourishes or pre chapter artwork.

The Black Create Summoner: Revolt of Reincarnated

All Chapters

Truly is revolting. A resounding THUMBS DOWN. Apparently this was just an advertisement manga, which means that its intentionally incomplete and unsatisfying. Ontop of that, the sketchy artwork was generally rough and got worse to look at the more it went on. [Insert isekai startup here] but this time he has a grimoire that lets him summon stuff he draws. The power isn’t used that much though or in that creative of ways. Characters didn’t really leave an impact except maybe the elf little sister that is stubborn yet knows she is incompotent and recruits a dragon out of stubbornness.

Minotaur’s Sweetheart

Chapters 1-16

So what if a minotaur accidentally seduced the adventurer that was assigned to kill him? This is a good romance manga deserving a THUMBS UP because the pure-hearted minotaur boy and the unmarriageable adventurer girl actually develop a relationship and progress as people. The manga is ultimately about monsters and humans interacting and is fresh due to having a plot that evolves the situation a lot beyond the initial setup of the manga.

Moon-led Journey Across Another World

Chapters 1-64

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time the god of the new world calls the MC ugly and banishes him to the edge of the world to die off. In order to help out the MC, the god of our world (Tsukuyomi) gives him a bit of power. The MC is funny to watch once you realize that he is an incredibly cautious pureboy and expecting every common street thug to potentially end him but in reality he is a god-rivaling cataclysm himself and never realizes. He is so powerful that he recruits the blue haired mist dragon, Tomoe, and accidentally turns her into a weeaboo. Tomoe can read minds and access pocket space with her mist ontop of her sick weeaboo katana skills. She really shines as the most mature person in the story, gaining information that no one else in the story has and carefully withholding it from the MC in order to protect his innocence. She is a DAMN good tomboyish waifu and sarashii is a blessing. Other main girl is yandere spider, Mio, which has shockingly good and well conveyed bouts of emotion. She has an extremely rare “can’t cook at all” joke that is explained due to her “eat literally anything” nature. In terms of plot, the MC hates the god of the world he is in and pretty much plans to do everything she doesn’t want him to. Which means mingling with humans, and eventually, god slaying/usurption. Odd think about this manga is that it’s heavily Japanese-inspired. That may sound odd because its a manga, but generally isekai are most medieval/western skinned than this one which leans in on Japanese mythos. Just look at the god of our world in the manga.

THUMBS UP.

The Unsuccessful yet Academically Unparalleled Sage ~A Cheating S-Rank Sorcerer's Post-Rebirth Adventurer Log~

Chapter 1-10 So lets set up this genre here. This is a part of the “reincarnation” genre, which is a spinoff of isekai. They generally depict a very capable mage who reincarnates themselves into the future of their own world. At which point they realize that although they were pretty strong in their day, they are now practically a god in the deteriorated modern day. This genre will hereby be indicated by [Insert reincarnation startup here]. For this manga in specific, [Insert isekai startup here] but this time the MC could only use lightning magic and was the best at it but failed the gene gacha then [Insert reincarnation startup here] and he fails gene gacha again but is still the walking thunder god. These kinds of manga are always precious when the MC can walk through the world and see the fruits of their past labor. Specifically through Merlin, the MC’s adopted demon daughter who has grown up to be his heritor and bridge human/demon relationships. Truly adorable and heart warming. Lacks a bit of spice from themeing or ongoing plot due to its short length however. THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER.

Older Elite Knight is cute only in front of me

Chapters 1-17.1

THUMBS UP. This is an oneshota manga where shota is a chad with incredibly good tastes. A really good ecchi manga with a light hearted story featuring Haru(the shota) knight that joins Karen’s(the oneesan) knight crew. As with all good romance manga, the main plot isn’t romance. Knight shenanigins are always happening, with a big (and lewd) bad entering recently. Top tier variation on the lewds, even including a princess loli in on the fun. Must read for all oneshota fans.

Lonely Attack on A Different World

Chapter 1-91

[Insert isekai startup forma de classroom here] but this time the MC gets leftover garbage skills and has to learn to survive. Learning to survive thus makes him the most op and he can magic trick his way out of literally anything. Strong start as the whole classroom first tries to get their footing, but after the starting arc is done this manga starts spinning it’s wheels. The manga is kinda lacking in themes, overarching plot and end goals, so stuff just happens to make this a sort of slice of life trap room escape manga. Magic “just works” in this universe so its not very dramatic when the MC pulls out a new trick out of his bag of million tricks. Just kinda stagnates too much for my liking. THUMB IN THE BOTTOM CORNER.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

Chapters 1-34

Rentt Faina, the MC, is a good guy with no talent who aspires to be a legendary adventurer. But then he gets turned into a skeleton, giving the chance to evolve his way to greatness, kinda like in Spider isekai or Dragon isekai. The MC is most like Goblin Slayer in his serious and knowledgeable approach to the world, how characters that know him revere him. End goal so far is just him seeing how far he can evolve as he comes across other vampires and vampire hunters. Really want to see him go to the top. Fuckin great art. Girls drawn perfect. Like the hat on the guild girl, but nothing beats the witch Lorraine. THUMBS UP.

Teihen Ryoushu No Kanchigai Eiyuutan

Chapters 1-13

THUMB IN UPPER CORNER. Pretty funny comedy about a lord of a poor land who wants to be a stereotypical evil lord but can only use healing magic. Therefore he bumbles his way into accepting a heretical cult nun, beast men who hate humans, etc. All the girls are to crazy for him to want to sex them(weak. give the assassin nun your babies). Most interesting parts are aforementioned nun, his fujoshi assistant, and the MC’s willingness to use his power to commit heretical and immoral warcrimes.

The Undead Lord of the Palace of Darkness

Chapters 1-11

Art average, don’t come to this one for spectacle. It’s strength is in the subertfuge that it’s recently-necromanced-back-to-life MC goes through to get his Master killed and to later, probably, evolve into a vampire. MC isn’t evil though, just wants to survive. Main girl on cover was born and raised to hunt vampires but has a compassionate heart. Obviously she goes easy on and relates to MC. Story is still kinda in it’s first arc so the overall trajectory of the story is a bit hard to gauge and not quite satisfying enough by its own right. Probably a thumb up with more chapters but for now THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER.

The Reincarnated Inferior Magic Swordsman

Chapters 1-38

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time.... uh... THUMB SIDEWAYS. Usually I am patient, but 31 chapters with no goal and just barely plot? Wow. Saving grace is uh... I guess the world of “other isekai people existed but they sucked because they didn’t level uncap like MC” could go somewhere but. I take it back, lowering this one to a THUMB DOWN.

The Invincible Sage in the Second World.

Chapters 1-12

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time a pro mmo player in a game called “Broken Balance Online.” Guess what his class, the sage class, was considered in the game? Not far along enough to really pop off but it isn’t horrible. MC is moderately cautious to a healthy degree which is actually rare in most isekai. THUMB IN BOTTOM LEFT CORNER.

The Dark Queen and I Strike Back

Chapters 1-29.5

Although technically an isekai, no isekai startup here. This a battle manga with a big mystery on the backdrop of a war. That is to say, the MC gets teleported to a world to kill the demons but he ends up defending them from the humans with all he’s got. Of special note is the complete seriousness of this manga that whiplashes into debauchery like tentacles, the above cover, oneshota, and even really dark jokes in some of the omake. That tonal lash effect will be either make or break, and it is a HUGE make for me. I love when a single piece can have both absolute serious scenes and utterly lighthearted and fluffy ones. Or in this case utterly lewd ones. May the average-human-amount-of-perverted MC one day slam some demon lord loli. THUMBS UP.

Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

Chapters 1-24

THUMB SIDEWAYS. Has the feeling of a nerfed slime isekai. Nerfed in all ways except romance. Art surprisingly good.

#Legend #The Black Create Summoner: Revolt of Reincarnated #Minotaur’s Sweetheart #Moon-led Journey Across Another World #The Unsuccessful yet Academically Unparalleled Sage ~A Cheating S-Rank Sorcerer's Post-Rebirth Adventurer Log~#Older Elite Knight is cute only in front of me #Lonely Attack on A Different World #The Unwanted Undead Adventurer #Teihen Ryoushu No Kanchigai Eiyuutan #The Undead Lord of the Palace of Darkness #The Reincarnated Inferior Magic Swordsman #The Invincible Sage in the Second World.#The Dark Queen and I Strike Back #Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

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talpup · 4 years ago

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Summary: Yami Sukehiro just wanted to join the Magic Knights and make his mentor proud. He knew there would be trails. He knew trouble would come his way. Knew he would be faced with discrimination for being a foreigner and a peasant. What he didn’t know. Didn’t expect. Was that literal Chaos would come his way. That he and his mentor’s sister would be at the center of world ending trouble. Or that he would fall in love with his mentor’s sister and face more than discrimination; but the jealously of Nozel Silva who loved the same woman he did.

Please remember this fic is rated mature and has warnings of violence, abuse, sexual tension, eventual sexual behavior, and other possible triggers. For a full list of story tags please check the fics AO3 (link to that at the top of my tumblrs homepage).

Important notes below the cut before chapter72 begins. PLEASE READ.

***SORRY!*** I forgot to tell you all. A few days before last weeks vacay I did a smutty Julius one shot that I guess you could say is tied to this fic. While there’s not much plot to that one shot, I am planning a Masquerade Ball for the fall around Yami and Teris’ 19yr b.day. So I might have the events of ‘A Night With the Stag’ happen then and have Julius' disappearance noticed. Anyway, you can find ‘A Night With the Stag’ on the main dash of my ao3.

***FIC UPDATE*** Got some not so good news yesterday. Thanks to one of my 3-big chronic illness bad's munching away at my joints the Surgeon said he’d normally recommend joint replacement for my hands. But thanks to another of my big chronic baddies he wouldn't recommend it for me as it would cause further problems and pain in the long run. For now I’m left with an up tick in my infusions ‘poison juice’ to hopefully stave off further damage. And therapy, bracing, and pain meds to help cope with the pain. What that means for this fic isn’t much at the moment since I’m so far ahead in writing. But with my typing having steadily slowed and the suggestive order not to tax my hands there may come a time when posting has caught up to where I am in writing. Which would mean this fic will become like my BNHA fics which is 'posting as I write', and you all will left waiting for updates. If that happens I’m really SORRY!

Chapter 72

Angry and impatient, Nozel entered Silva Castle. The kingdom was still in disorder with bandits and thieves continuing to fight for supremacy within the Common and Forsaken Realms. Even the Noble Realm was dealing with more criminal activity than usual.

“Father.” Nozel stopped to stand behind the man.

Directing a team of servants on the placement of several new acquisitions he had gotten for their palace home, Nathyn turned to his son. “Nozel. Didn’t expect you so early. I must admit I’m looking forward to the day we have a proper Lady Silva running our homes once again. Nebra is too self involved to be good at these types of things.”

Nathyn sighed thinking of his eldest daughter. She would be fifteen soon. Nebra’s grimoire Acceptance Ceremony set not long after her birthday. Come next Entrance Exams, in little under twelve months time, she would be joining Nozel as a Magic Knight in the Silver Eagles. With Nebra residing at the Silver Eagles base, she would be Nozel’s responsibility and Nathyn would have one less thing to look after.

“Father, please.”

“What is it?” Nathyn questioned shortly, his thoughts interrupted.

“Must we really go on with this? The war has only just ended.” Nozel said.

“Four days ago.” Nathyn stated, as if that was long enough for everything to be righted.

“All the squads have a back log of missions and with--”

“That’s the Magic Knights problem.” Nathyn said, dismissed his sons words.

“I am a Magic Knight. Teris and I both. And Julius is a Captain.”

Nathyn fully focused on his son and reminded. “You are royalty first. This is more than just celebrating your Intended’s birthday. Not that you shouldn’t insist we continue with that. But there are Peace Parties to attend. The people are happy this war was short and is over. They wish to celebrate you for securing that peace. The King wishes to honor you.” He looked proudly at his heir. “You did good, and should take these next few days to relax and enjoy the fruits of your success.” His face sharpened. “I insist.”

Knowing this was a battle he couldn’t win Nozel inclined his head and submitted. “I’m glad to have pleased you, Father.”

“As am I. Now go make ready. The Nova’s will be arriving within the hour.”

72.2

Julius looked mournfully at his sister. “Teris, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Trepidation growing, Teris realized that Julius was serious. He was sending her off to Silva Castle to spend three days with them and Fyntch, and he wasn’t coming. “You’re really going to make me go there alone? Without you?”

“The Vermilion's will be in residence at Vermillion Castle across the lawn. You can seek refuge there.” Julius offered.

Teris stared at him in disbelief. “Three days, Julius. You’re going to leave me alone in Silva Castle with Fyntch and the Silva’s for three whole days.”

“It’s no worse than spending the time with them at Nova House or Silva Manor.” Julius reasoned.

“Yes it is! You truly know nothing do you? You’ve had it so easy being a man and the eldest at that.”

“I’ve had my share of familial duties and expectations forced upon me.” Julius rebutted, thinking she was being unfair and bratty.

“That you threw off.” Teris countered.

“Watch it.” Julius warned, expression turning from supplicating to stern.

Teris growled and spun away. “Fine. Leave me to those wolves. But don’t come down on me when I make a mess and make matters worse.”

“You’ll only be making matters worse for yourself. Can’t you see that? I’m trying to protect you. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do with this mess.”

Teris turned back to him, eyes pleading. “If that were true you’d come.”

Julius looked sympathetically at her. “I would if I could. You know what it’s been like. There’s so much work to do. I’m so overtired I don’t think I could drift off to sleep if I tried.”

“Then tell Fyntch that. Tell him I can’t go for the same reason. All the Black Bulls are still going on mission after mission trying to bring peace and order back to the kingdom. It’s not right that I leave them to go off on some stupid three day leave.”

Julius shook his head. “I tried that. I told you I tried that.”

“Try again.” Teris begged.

“Teris.” Julius sighed, reaching out to her.

Teris stepped back from him.

Julius sighed again and he lowered his hands. “You are going.” He said, simply.

Teris glared at him. “I--”

“If you tell me you hate me I won’t even make an attempt of showing.” Julius said, cutting her off. Whether she meant it or not, such words always stung.

Teris gave one last try to convince him. “Julius, I don’t want to go.”

“We all do things we don’t want to all the time. You think I want to spend half the day in meetings and the other half doing paperwork till I can’t see straight and everything looks the same? You think I wanted to go to war? Or want to be having this conversation?”

“Go away.” Teris frowned.

“Go to Silva Castle. Don’t make Fyntch fetch you. Do you really want him coming here, seeing how and who you live with? He’ll pull you out of the Magic Knights so fast and have you locked up at Nova House before the day is done. You know I’m right.”

Teris glowered. “Fine.”

Julius exhaled and muttered to himself. “I should’ve led with that.” He pointed at his sister. “Silva Castle. Twenty minutes.”

She kicked the toe of her boot into the foot of her bed.

“Teris.” Julius rumbled.

“I heard you! Go away already.”

Julius turned and left her bedroom. He found Yami waiting on the second level landing. Glancing back up the stairs, he grimaced at the sounds of things being thrown about. Looking at Yami, Julius warned. “Don’t think it’d be too wise to go up there right now. She’s mad as hell.”

Yami smirked at his mentor. “She’s not mad at me.”

Temper frayed and short, Julius frowned. “You really can be a little shit sometimes, you know.”

Yami chuckled. “Just figuring that one out?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting, eating, or heading out on a mission?”

“In a bit. Tobin and Iban are waiting downstairs for me.”

Julius tried not to make a face at the mention of Iban’s name.

Yami caught the expression anyway. “All hands on deck and all that. At least Olsen's been teamed with the Bloody Creep for the most part. After what happened with Teris, he isn’t allowed on missions with any of the girls.”

Julius recalled the mission with Teris, Yami, and Iban where the Blood Mage had used his magic against Teris causing quite a bit of injury including several broken ribs. Though the incident had happened almost a year ago, it still angered.

“They waiting in the great room?” Julius asked.

Yami nodded, looking up the stairs.

“I think I’ll take the servants stairs and exit out back.” Julius said, not wanting to see the man who had put his sister in such a state.

Yami waited till Julius had disappeared down the hall that led away from the boys rooms before climbing the stairs. Standing in the open doorway of Teris’ room, he watched her tear the place apart looking for something. She pulled out some sort of adornment from a trunk and turned around throwing it.

Yami leaned to the side, tilting his head as the thing flew by.

Teris gasped, hand covering her mouth. “Sorry! I didn’t know you were there.”

Yami entered the room. “I’d hope not. Would make me wonder if you were mad at me.”

“Tobin and Iban?” She questioned, aware that Yami was leaving for a mission soon. She looked at him thinking about last year when she had gone to Nova House for her birthday.

“They’re waiting downstairs.” Yami saw her expression, knowing that she was thinking about last year when they had parted on a high desirous note only for her to return shortly after her birthday to find him angry and refusing to speak to her. He stepped toward her, pulling her the rest of the way. “Come here, Princess.”

Teris shook her head. “Don’t call me that. Not when I’m going to Silva castle.”

Yami caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I don’t care what you are to them. You’re my, Princess.”

She huffed, smirking up at him. “Always got to have it your way, don’t you.”

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. “I thought you liked it when I got my way.”

Teris laughed, lowering her head and pushing at his chest through not really trying to push him away. “Yami. You got to go and I got to get ready to go.”

“What? Don’t want me to have my way any more? I owe you.”

“Owe me?” Teris lifted her head.

Yami smirked, getting exactly what he wanted, her eyes on him. He stared at her, his desire openly clear in his gaze. “For your birthday. I owe you a gift.”

“No.” Teris shook her head. “We agreed no gifts. Remember.”

Yami lowered to whisper in her ear. “Oh, I remember vividly.”

He stepped back, Teris falling a step forward. That should leave him in the foremost of her mind till she returned to him, Yami thought.

Teris blushed at the memory of having offered herself as Yami’s birthday gift and what had ensued. “W—we agreed we needed to be--”

“Good? Better behaved? More restrained?” Yami smiled, looking her over.

Teris swallowed, legs squeezing together. She could feel the pulled of his gaze as it raked over her body.

“Depends on how good, behaved, and restrained you are while suffering those humorless royals these next few days. I don’t want you getting into trouble over there and putting an end to the trouble we get up to together over here.” Yami’s devilish grin was cut short by Tobin’s echoing holler.

“Yami!”

Yami backed out of the room. “Gotta go, Princess. I’ll treat you to your gift when you return.”

Teris sunk onto the bed as soon as he was out of sight. How could mere words leave her breathless with wanting? While they hadn’t done anything close to what they had been up to before the war. Teris hadn’t been frightened or uncomfortable ever since Yami had promised to be patient and work with her. Instead she found herself eager and desirous as Yami always seemed to leave her frustrated and wanting more. She got the distinct feeling he enjoyed this new little game of his that left her grasping and falling forward after him.

Standing, she shook her head clear of the dreamy feeling Yami left her with. She only had one pair of court appropriate shoes here at base. She only had one court appropriate gown here as well; but that she had found easily enough. It was the matching shoe she had to find.

Renewing her search in the trunk that held her things, she hoped Fyntch had thought to order a few proper outfits packed and taken to Silva Castle else she would need to borrow something from Mereoleona’s closet. She certainly wasn’t asking Nebra for such a favor; not that she would wear any of Nozel’s sisters outfits anyway. They were all pink, purple, and lavender. Colors Teris wouldn’t be caught dead in.

“Found you!” Teris said victoriously, pulling out the missing shoe.

72.3

Lunch at Silva Castle was made better and livelier by the presence of the Vermilion's. Nozel and Fuegoleon called themselves rivals. And occasionally acted as such. But in truth they got on well enough for everyone to know them as friends they were. Their father's on the other hand were far from friends.

The rivalry between Nathyn Silva and Leonidas Vermillion had begun at a young age and had only grown over the years. Sadly it wasn’t only their station that often brought the two patriarchs together. Before Acier’s death, she and Marcellina, Fuegoleon’s mother, had been close friends. The women had often planned dinners and outings together for the two royal families. Even after Acier’s passing, Nathyn tolerated Leonidas’ company just so he could interact with Marcellina. It made Nathyn happy to be around someone who had loved Acier nearly as much as he had and could reminisce about her with him.

Seated to her husbands left, Marcellina lightly scolded. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Fyntch. Not bringing proper court clothes for your sister.”

“Men don’t think of such things, my dear.” Leonidas told his wife.

Marcellina turned to her daughter. “Mereoleona. After we’ve finished lunch, you must take Teris out shopping.”

Mereoleona sighed. “Really, Mother.”

“Aunt Lina, please. I could simply borrow a gown or two from Leona’s wardrobe.” Teris said.

“Works for me.” Mereoleona said.

Marcellina looked horrified. “Absolutely not. Your coloring's are not at all similar. The color scheme of her wardrobe will not look well on you. Besides, your forms are much too dissimilar. Leona’s gowns won’t fit you properly.”

“She’s only an inch or two shorter than me.” Mereoleona told her mother. She look at Teris. “Don’t you go growing anymore. I won’t stand for you being taller that me.”

“Your torso is longer than hers and your legs are shorter.” Marcellina said, not mentioning their difference in bust with men present.

“Fine. I’ll go if Leon comes.” Mereoleona bargained.

“Why?” Fuegoleon complained, wondering how his sister always managed to force him into things their mother wanted her to do.

“Come now, Leon. You like shopping.” Mereoleona grinned.

Fuegoleon couldn’t argue with that. Not to mention that someone had to guide his sister and cousin on what was proper, in fashion, and looked well on Teris. “Fine.”

“Oh Fyntch, don’t look so stern. We’ll pay. Consider it our birthday gift to our favorite niece.” Marcellina told, upon seeing the mans sour expression.

“No need to mention money at the table, Lina, my dear.” Leonidas said.

“I’m not concerned about the cost.” Fyntch said.

“Of course you’re not.” Leonidas said.

“I simply do not care for the time such an excursion will take from this annual gathering.” Fyntch went on.

“Then have Nozel, Nebra, and Solid join them.” Marcellina smiled, brightly. “The children can go shopping while we all visit. No doubt they’ll have more fun doing that than sitting around listening to us.”

“Please, Father. There were these gloves I saw when we passed through and would so like to get a better look at them.” Nebra said, looking down the table at her father.

Nathyn smiled at his eldest daughter, the thought of reminiscing about his beloved wife with Marcellina putting him in a good mood. “Very well. Nozel. Look after your siblings and Intended.”

“Yes, Father.” Nozel said, not needing to look at Teris to know her expression had hardened at the way his father had referred to her.

“Can I go, Mother?” Leopold asked.

Marcellina looked fondly down at her youngest son. “Dear little Leo. You still have your magic training with Ms Theresa.”

“That’s right!” Leopold said, becoming excited. He looked to his brother. “I’m going to become just as strong as you, Leon.”

“I am sure you will.” Fuegoleon smiled.

“It’s a shame Noelle isn’t here. She and Leo could have trained together.” Marcellina said, looking at Nathyn.

There was little Nathyn could say that wouldn’t disparage Noelle and therefore the family so he opted to suggested. “Shall we move to the tea room?”

“I’ll take a coffee.” Leonidas told a servant.

Marcellina glanced at her husband. She didn’t like him drinking the beverage, it made him irritable.

The men stood, Fyntch leaving the handling of his sister to Nozel as he stepped away from the table. Much as Teris didn’t like accepting such courtly attention from Nozel, she’d much rather take his hand of assistance than her brothers.

“You kids behave.” Leonidas told them, making his way out of the lunch room.

“Be back in time to properly prepare for dinner.” Nathyn instructed, eyes on Nozel.

Nozel inclined his head.

Their elders gone, they all looked at each other.

Mereoleona finally broke the silence. “Where should we go first?”

“I still can’t believe you’re here.” Teris muttered.

“Thanks for that. You really know how to make someone welcomed.” Mereoleona told, sarcastically.

“Sorry. It’s only Julius said he couldn’t be here because he had so much left to do.” Teris all but rolled her eyes thinking she was going to kill him.

“I’m sure he does. You forget he was overseeing the southwest forces during the war.” Mereoleona said.

Teris blinked never having considered that. She suddenly felt bad for giving her brother such a hard time.

“The Fine Cloth.” Nozel said, answering Mereoleona’s earlier question. The last time he had been in there, before the Nine Day War, there had been a gown he had admired for Teris. Never had he imagined that he would actually get a chance to see her in it.

Mereoleona slapped the table. “The Fine Cloth it is.”

“But the gloves I wanted to look at were on the other side Dressers Lane.” Nebra complained.

“We’re going so that Lady Teris will suitably attired for the following days events. Not so you can purchase yet another pair of gloves.” Nozel told.

Nebra turned away from her brother sticking her nose in the air.

Nozel sighed, wondering why Nebra and Solid had to accompany them in the first place.

Teris’ brows furrowed. “You’re making this sound as if it'll take all afternoon. I just need two, maybe three dresses.”

“You will need two evening dresses, a ball gown, a court gown, garden gown, two day dresses, and riding attire.” Nozel said, thinking of the itinerary for the following couple of days.

Teris scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“As well as shoes and accessories for each.” Fuegoleon added.

“What!” Teris shook her head. “The shoes I’m wearing are fine. No one will even see them anyway.”

“Yes, they will. Ladies look at such things while you’re climbing or descending steps.” Nebra told.

“As do the men.” Solid smirked, always looking in hope of glimpsing a bit of leg.

Nozel turned to his brother. Solid shrunk back.

“Really?” Teris questioned, in disbelief. She never looked at anyone's shoes. Looking to Fuegoleon she argued. “Even so. What does that matter? I don’t--”

“You’re getting shoes. Mana! Do you always have to be so difficult?” Fuegoleon complained.

“Do you?” Teris shot back.

Mereoleona smiled at the two of them. “Ah! This brings back memories. Kind of makes me wish you could spend a night over at Vermillion Castle with us.”

Teris spun to her. “Can I?”

“No.” Mereoleona and Nozel said.

Teris refused to look at Nozel instead giving Mereoleona the glared meant for him.

Mereoleona step to Teris, tossing an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go. I have a feeling that between Leon and Nozel the two of us can sit back and let them see you perfectly outfitted.”

72.4

Seated in the tea room, Marcellina said. “It’s a shame Fyntch had business to take care of and couldn’t stay. You men. Always working so hard to see your families cared for and supported.”

Leonidas gazed lovingly at his wife. “Just as you ladies work so diligently to see our family and homes looked after and well ordered.”

“It’s the least we can do.” Marcellina smiled back, the couple sharing a moment.

Nathyn turned away. Such open affection was unseemly in his eyes. Things and talk like that were meant for private moments and even then sparingly so, least they become like the commoners who readily gave into their more feral natures any time they wished with no sign of restraint.

Marcellina turned to Nathyn. “The boys appear to be getting along. Then again unlike the two of you, they’ve never had much of a problem in that regard.”

Nathyn looked at Lady Vermillion who gave him one of her kind but playful smiles.

“I tease, my Lord.” Marcellina said.

“No matter how truthful it is.” Leonidas said giving the Silva a sideways before focusing back his wife. “My dear, would you mind checking on Leopold so Nathyn and I can speak alone?”

Marcellina set down her cup and saucer. Both men rose from their seats. Leonidas offered his hand and helped his wife from her seat.

Nathyn gave a slight bow. “My Lady. As always your presence has been a pleasure that is visited upon me too infrequently.”

Marcellina blushed ever so slightly. “My Lord Silva. With prose such as that I shall endeavor to have my husband and I rectify this rarity.”

She placed her hand in Nathyn’s outstretched one, smiling shyly as he lifted it to his lips to graze her knuckle with a kiss.

Leonidas watched his wife walk away. If he didn’t enjoy the sight of her swaying backside and swishing skirts so much he might have never allowed Marcellina to leave his presence. He turned to Nathyn who stared a moment longer at the closed door.

“You still have it.” Leonidas declared.

Nathyn’s blue eyes turned the man. “Still have what?”

Leonidas huffed. He retook his seat, Nathyn doing the same. Even when they were younger the cold fool never knew the effect his fine words had on the opposite sex. As if Nathyn Silva’s handsome face and high rank hadn’t been enough to attract every female. Eligible or otherwise.

Leonidas recalled a time back in their youth when Nathyn had come to him asking for advice. A rarity given that they had never gotten along and were only ever together when circumstance demanded. Back then the young, unmarried Silva had unwittingly piqued the interest of Lady Annsan Denwulf. An older royal wed to a nobleman's son and heir. Nathyn had been at a loss at what to do to put an end to the married lady’s persistent attentions. Especially since Nathyn had been on the same squad as the Lady’s son, Dorien.

Leonidas smiled at the memory of one of the few occasions he had ever seen Nathyn Silva flustered and lacking in confidence.

“Our sons did well completing the Kings request.” Leonidas said, changing the subject to something the Silva would find less aggravating. “You should be proud of your boy. It is he who will get all of the honor and credit tomorrow.”

“As is only fitting since he would have born all of the shame and blame if they had failed.” Nathyn said.

“I wasn’t complaining, Silva.”

“It’s difficult to tell at times, Vermillion.”

The two men stared at each other. Leonidas blinked first, not too proud to do so for the sake of peace. “Nozel deserves all the praise he will get tomorrow. Commanding my niece alone is a fete that couldn’t have been easy.”

“I’ll admit they both require practice in that arena.” Nathyn said, speaking of Teris and his son. “Though I have full faith that Nozel will command her with as firm a hand as required to get Lady Teris to submit.”

“But no firmer than necessary I would hope. We are speaking of my favored niece. A child as dear to me as if she were one of my own.” Leonidas said.

Nathyn arched a questioning brow. “Is that what this is about? You wish to take the position as the girls father figure? If so, then get her to behave like a proper young lady. At the very least stop her from cavorting with that foreign boy from her squad.”

Thinking of the reports he had heard of Teris and the foreigner out on the lawn during his daughters Lava Springs party, Leonidas sighed. “I admit I was rather displeased and disappointed to hear of that. Even my Mereoleona, free and unorthodox as she is, wouldn’t entertain a young man so openly. Still, it seems Teris has either learned her lesson or someone has instructed her on decent, if not proper, romantic decorum. I haven’t heard anymore murmurings of such instances. Have you?”

Nathyn scowled. “That hardly means such things aren’t still being done in private.”

Leonidas rolled his eyes. “As if you went into your marriage having never felt another's lips. Teris may be a little too much like my Leona, but she would never give herself fully outside of marriage. Of that I’m certain. It’s simply a line the girl would never cross.”

“She belongs to my son.”

“No.” Leonidas countered. “She will one day belong to your son. Right now the only claim you and Nozel have on her is that Teris is meant for him.” He relaxed back into his seat. “The boy loves her. That much is obvious. So long as things with the foreigner don’t go too far, Nozel will forgive her this male diversion. So why not let it be? It makes her happy. The poor child has had such little happiness in her life. And let’s face it, I doubt Teris will experience much joy when finally wed into your family.”

Nathyn took in a steadying breath, calming his rising mana. Looking across the coffee table, he challenged. “You would have a problem with this if it were your sons Intended we were discussing.”

“Any Intended meant for my son wouldn’t have to seek out joyful diversions in dread of the day she became a member of my House.” Leonidas said, light tone carrying an dangerous undercurrent. His forced smile tight, he went on. “Let us hope that you are not fully successful in turning Nozel into you. Else I truly will feel for my niece.”

“He’s too soft.” Nathyn declared.

“I agree he has a lot to learn. Both our boys do. At least they are working with and learning together. Explains their quick rise within the Magic Knights. Where as you and I often battled to our detriment within the order.”

Nathyn huffed, the usual slight down turn of his lips leveling to a thin line.

“I mean it Nathyn. Leave the girl and foreign boy be. I’m watching the matter closely to see that nothing of any sort gets out of hand.”

Nathyn’s eyes narrowed, his lips pulling downward. As much as he didn’t like the Vermillion telling him what to do, it was Leonidas’ last sentence that was upsetting, if not concerning. Just how closely was Leonidas watching? Was he aware of the failed attempt on Yami’s life during the Nine Day War? Or the money left without word by the Black Bulls Vice Captain? How long had Leonidas being watching? Did the Vermillion know of the two previous attempts before this latest debacle?

Leonidas smiled at the Silva’s expression. “I truly hope we understand each other. Given this honor your son has won for your House it would be a shame if a controlling, prideful patriarch turned that esteem to not.”

72.5

While the Sales Assistant had needed to adjust to not showing the offerings of fine fashionable gowns to the two disinterested royal women and instead try to please the two royal men, it had been an easy adjustment to make. These weren’t the first high bred customers that had entered where the man had a mind of how he wanted his woman to look and knew what style best pleased him on her frame. Given what she had heard she was rather surprised Lady Nova was amenable to allowing her Intended to dress her. She wondered if the two royals had finally submitted to their families intention to see them wed. Such a shame that would be she thought, watching Nozel closely as he tried to decide between two of the remaining riding dresses he and Lord Fuegoleon Vermillion had narrowed it down to.

The Sales Assistant sighed dreamily, wishing that it was her His Highness was outfitting. A smile crossed her face as she took in Nozel’s form. Better yet, they could move on the the back of the store and he could outfit her in the lingerie they offered. She would gladly try it on for him.

She glanced at the bored Lady Nova who occasionally sighed heavily as if it was such a tiresome inconvenience to have two of the highest ranking young royals, both of whom would make any girl stop and stare at their handsome face and figure, picking out such fine dresses for her to wear. Some girls had all the luck and didn’t even realize or appreciate it, she thought bitterly.

“This one will look better.” Nozel said.

“And she’ll be able to move about easier in the other.” Fuegoleon said. He crossed his arms and looked at the Silva. “It’s a riding dress. Comfort and maneuverability are more important than mere appearance.”

“If this wasn’t for a court gathering I might agree with you. But it is and I’m picking this one.” Nozel told.

“Since this is a birthday gift from the Vermillion's, what you pick has little bearing.” Fuegoleon said, tersely.

“Teris.” Nozel called over his shoulder.

“Are we done?” Teris called back, sitting up.

Lounging beside her, eyes closed, Mereoleona muttered. “I hope so. Pretty sure it’s almost time to head back and get ready for dinner.”

“Almost.” Fuegoleon assured. “Come here, please.”

Without looking at the Sales Assistant, Nozel ordered. “Hold the dress up to her.”

“I’m bored.” Teris complained, making her way over to them. She had never liked shopping. Shopping for fancy clothes that were meant for her were definitely off her list of enjoyable activities. She pulled away when a sales girl held something before her.

“Stand still. Fuegoleon snapped.

“And straight.” Nozel added, looking her over appraisingly.

Teris made a face, but did as the two men bid.

Nozel’s eyes slid to Fuegoleon, brow raised.

Fuegoleon look Teris over a moment then nodded. “You’re right.”

“I know.” Nozel said, turning away. He took it as an insult that the Vermillion had doubted his knowing what looked best on his Intended.

“Is that it?” Teris asked, wanting to go back and sit, or better yet return to Silva Castle.

Nozel nodded as the Assistant took up the boots and accessories that he had picked to go with the outfit.

“If I can have my Lady’s measurements I will have these altered and boxed within the hour.” The Sales Assistant said pulling a quill and paper out for Teris to write her numbers on.

Teris blinked at the woman. “I haven’t a clue.”

Nozel sighed. Before he could stop himself had rattled off Teris’ measurements. The Sales Assistant caught herself staring. She quickly turned around, jotting the numbers down and busied herself with boxing the accessories.

Fuegoleon’s expression held a mixture of displeasure and amusement.

Nozel cleared his throat and added lamely. “I would guess.”

Teris felt both angry and embarrassment. She felt exposed. Examined. She felt like a thing. She wanted to walk out and not look back. She wanted to head to the back and have the store clerk take her measurements, sickly interested in how accurate Nozel’s guess was. Mana. She hoped it was a guess. It had to have been a guess, she told herself. How else would he have gotten a hold of her measurements? It wasn’t that she was embarrassed about the numbers. It was that Nozel somehow knew something so personal. More than that, he had spoken the numbers with such confidence and ease as if he were already her husband. Which she had made clear, time and again, he would never be.

Teris saw a tape measure on the counter and grabbed it. Lashing it like a whip, she spun on a heel and marched to the changing room. Nozel mindful to keep his eyes averted from her.

Fuegoleon smirked at his cousins behavior. He turned a stern eye on Nozel. “I had a few choice words for you. But I think Teris will have more than enough so I’ll save my breath. What were you thinking? How do you even know a thing like that?”

“I have a good eye.” Nozel said simply. He looked Fuegoleon over and rattled off the Vermillion’s measurements.

“Impressive. I’d be quick to mention that and prove it when she comes back. Not that it’ll spare you from much.” Fuegoleon told.

It wasn’t long before Teris exited the changing room. Her shoulder rammed into Nozel as she passed making her way for the door. Mereoleona got to her feet.

“Teris?” She called after her cousin. The Crimson Lions Captain looked over at Nozel and her brother wondering what they had done to upset her this time.

Fuegoleon watched his sister follow Teris out. He looked at Nozel and shook his head in sympathetic amusement. Stepping to the counter, he signed the bill of sale and instructed the Clerk on when and where he wanted everything delivered.

Mereoleona stepped beside Teris who had stopped at a nearby fountain. “What’s the matter, Little One?”

Picking at a hangnail, Teris mumbled. “Nozel knew my measurements.”

Mereoleona shrugged. “That’s not surprising. Lord Silva has a mathematical eye. It’s somewhat expected one of his children would inherent the same.” She smiled and told. “My Mother once said that when they were younger Lord Silva’s favorite party trick was to guess how many mixed nuts were in a bowel. She said that he was never off by more than two and that was only when he had a few too many drinks. Father told me that Lord Nathyn helped him in sizing Mother’s betrothal ring and when it came time to put it on her finger it fit perfectly. Said that as happy as he was to have it fit, to this day he doesn’t like it when Mother wears her betrothal ring because it reminds him of Lord Silva’s help.”

Teris relaxed somewhat at that. Maybe that’s all it was. It was something similar to how she could remember the words to every song she had ever heard, even if only once. Or how she could sometimes guess the next few words from a versus or chores she hand never heard. As useless as it was, it was occasionally a fun gift to have. If Nozel was indeed like his father, his gift would be a whole lot more useful. Knowing that about him actually explained a lot. Like how Nozel was able to step back and surmise the weakest point of cell for Fuegoleon, Randall, Zara, and him to focus on. Or how he had known just what pace to set to get them to the next camp point.

Mereoleona looked over at her. “You’re no vain girl that would be upset about something like that. What’s really bugging you?”

“I only have two more years left.” Teris said, the weight of it causing her shoulders to slump.

“And?”

Teris’ head snapped up. “And!”

“That troublesome brute of yours will follow you anywhere.” Mereoleona said with a shrug.

“I don’t want to go anywhere. The Clover Kingdom isn’t perfect but it’s better than most. It’s my home. I love it.”

“Then let that muscly mess of a man fight Fyntch to free you from your family and duty.” Mereoleona said, simply.

“Who says it’ll be Fyntch? If Julius--”

“Julius will never fight Yami. He’s put too much work and effort into that kid to kill him. Besides, Julius would never do anything to force you into a future you didn’t want.” Mereoleona pinched Teris’ cheek. “He adores you too much for that.”

Teris pulled her face away.

Mereoleona dropped her hand. “Julius will work something out. You can count on that. Your little Lord of Destruction won’t have to face him.”

“I don’t want Yami to have to face anyone.” Teris said.

Mereoleona didn’t know if her cousin was stating what her perfect world looked like, or if Teris was still that young, foolish, and hopeful. “I know it’s you birthday in a couple days, Little One. But you can’t have all the things.”

“I don’t want all the things.” Teris said, fiercely. “I’m ready and willing to lose my name, title, and all that comes with it when it’s time.”

“Even us?” Mereoleona asked.

“That’s the only thing I’ll miss.” Teris said, finding it difficult to keep the other woman’s gaze.

Mereoleona clasped Teris’ shoulder. “Don’t worry. You won’t lose me. Well you will once Leon’s ready to become Captain, but so will everyone else cause I’m getting out of here.”

“Where are you going?”

“We’re talking about you here.” Mereoleona put her other hand on Teris’ other shoulder, holding both of them. “Now I need you to listen and heed what I tell you cause it’s important.”

“Alright.” Teris said, uncertainly.

“No.” Mereoleona shook her head. “No tentative, alright's. I said this was important.”

“Okay. I’m listening.”

Mereoleona looked at the younger girl lifting her eyebrows. “And heeding. I need you to really listen and take in what I have to say.”

Teris gave a nervous smile. “Leona. You’re starting to scare me.”

“Good. Cause this is so important it is scary. Are you listening?”

Teris nodded.

“You got of stop worrying about this stuff. Whether you leave or stay. If that big lug fights on your behalf or not. There’s nothing you can do about any of that right now. Not with two year left to go. So don’t think about it. Put it out of your head and enjoy the here and now. With all that’s going on who knows what will happen between then and now. Hell, Fyntch or Lord Nathyn could die. You or Yami could die. Nozel could--”

“Please stop saying ‘die’.” Teris begged.

“You get my point.” Mereoleona went on. “Enjoy these next few days and the ones after. Relish your ranking friends and family. Well, maybe not Fyntch. He is a bit of a prat. But I do include Nozel in that. If—when you get what you want. Even if you don’t get it exactly as you want. All of this changes, if it doesn’t go away forever. Even if and when you become Knights Commander. Which I am as certain you’ll achieve as I am of Julius becoming Wizard King.” She looked at her cousin affectionately. “The relationships. The close friendship you have with those two boys back in that store will never be the same. There will be strain and tension and hurt feelings. And that strain, anger, and hurt will always be there on some level no matter how much time passes or how well those feelings are hidden.”

Teris lowered her head fighting back the hurt, anger, and fear her cousins words brought to the surface.

Mereoleona chucked a finger under Teris’ chin. “Don’t look so down. You still got two years left to have a lifetime of fun and laughs with those two boys. I’m telling you this so you don’t waste it. Consider it my birthday gift to you.”

72.6

Mereoleona knocked on her father's study door.

“Enter.” Leonidas Vermillion called. “Ah, Leona, my dear. What are you doing up so late?”

“Just because I’m here doesn’t mean work doesn’t follow.” Mereoleona said, speaking of her duties as the Crimson Lions Captain. She sat before her father's desk. “What about you?”

“The Magic Knights aren’t the only ones dealing with extra work. Drink?” Leonidas offered, getting up and moving to the bureau behind his desk that bore several decanted spirits.

Having more work to see to, Mereoleona shook her head. “No, thanks. You shouldn’t either. Mother will smell it on you and scold.”

“I can handle your Mother.” Leonidas said, pouring himself a fingers worth instead of the two he had planned before his daughters words.

“Did you speak to Lord Silva?” Mereoleona asked.

Leonidas returned to the chair, sighing as he sat. “I told you I would. However did you learn Nathyn hired men to kill Teris’ young friend?”

Mereoleona recalled Bronn telling her the truth of things after Yami was found unharmed after he had been taken by a dimensional spell. She had almost gone to confront Nathyn Silva herself; and likely would have if she hadn’t been fighting in a war. Yami had been under her command at the time. She had been responsible for him. More than that, Yami was a Magic Knight. As much as the squads might bicker and fight, they were one unit. One family. If anyone from the outside threatened one them they may as well have threatened every Magic Knight. Their lives were dangerous enough as if was. They didn’t need anyone getting ideas to make it more so. Thanks to the war, Mereoleona had been forced to wait. The passing time had calmed her enough to think with a clearer head which had led her to the decision of going to her father.

“I’d rather not say.” Mereoleona told her father. She didn’t see how telling him would get Bronn in trouble. But she also didn’t see how telling her father would make a difference.

Having his fair share of secrets, Leonidas didn’t press. “Well, Nathyn won’t be sending people after that boy again. Not if he knows what’s good for his family’s image or has any hope of Nozel and Teris making their marriage work.”

Mereoleona looked sadly at her father. “She’s not going to marry him, Papa. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Leonidas shook his head. “I refuse to believe she won’t. The thought of having to turn away from that girl wounds me too much.”

“You don’t have to. I won’t be.”

“Don’t tell me your future plans to ignore my instructions. And you know full well that I must and will if Teris indeed refuses to follow her family’s commands. I don’t live for my needs and desires, Leona. I have a duty to this family. To House Vermillion. To the King and this kingdom.”

Mereoleona sat forward and inquired. “Then why speak to Silva at all? Why not let him do as he wishes and rid this kingdom of a dirty foreigner who’s messing around with a royal girl far above his station?”

Taking a sip of his drink, Leonidas drawled. “Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re having fun or truly being adversarial.”

“It’s no wonder when sometimes I can’t tell myself.” Mereoleona admitted, sitting back.

“Let us say Teris does as she’s told and weds Nozel. She doesn’t love him and while she might learn to, it will be a rough few first years for her as Lady Silva. If Nozel is incapable of bringing her to heel I have no doubt that Nathyn will step in and his methods will be far less tender and caring.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Mereoleona asked. “A girl you claim to love like your own daughter--”

“But Teris isn’t my daughter.” Leonidas interjected. “I may be the third highest man of this land but even I have limits on what I’m able to do. Especially when faced against the second ranking man of the kingdom.”

While Leonidas didn’t have major issue admitting the truth of his limitations as His Royal Highness Lord Vermillion to Mereoleona, he didn’t like seeing the look of disappointment in his daughters eyes. Apparently his children thought him able of any and everything he wished and were crestfallen every time he told them that it wasn’t true. At least Fuegoleon as his heir, was beginning to understand his limitations, and hardly ever looked at him as Mereoleona did now.

“Teris deserves some happiness.” Leonidas said, telling her the same thing he had told Nathyn. “Whether she submits and weds Nozel. Or refuses and deals with whatever consequences that decision brings her way. It will still be a tough adjustment for her. So yes. After what you told me, I spoke with Silva to ensure she has a couple joyful years before this mess comes to a head. Besides,” he shook his head in disgust, “hiring gangs to kill that foreign boy. Nasty business that. Nathyn should be ashamed of himself. He had no right attempting such a thing. He over stepped his bounds.”

“I’m not so sure he’d agree.”

“I don’t give a damn if Nathyn Silva agrees.” Leonidas stormed. “Teris is his sons Intended. That is all. Her behavior and going on's are not for him to sway or tamper with. If there’s something he doesn’t like he should speak with Fyntch, or Julius. Hell, even speak with me. But to try to have that young man killed, not once but twice that you’re aware of, simply because he doesn’t approve of Teris’ dealings with him. This Yami Sukehiro is a Third Class Senior Magic Knight for mana’s sake!”

“And soon to be co-Vice Captain of the Black Bulls.” Mereoleona added.

Leonidas raised an eyebrow. “Truly.”

She nodded, happy that her effort to distract and calm her father had worked so easily. “From what I understand Yami and Teris are to become co-Vice Captain's once the current Black Bulls Vice Captain retires to marry.”

Leonidas chuckled, heartily. “Silva certainly won’t like that. But maybe between my words and this Yami’s new rank, Nathyn will cease these tasteless attempts.”

72.6.2

Fuegoleon hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. He had only gotten up to get a glass of warm milk after trying and failing to get to sleep for over an hour and a half. But after what he’d just heard he didn’t think anything would help him sleep.

From down the hall he had seen light coming from his father’s half opened study door and decided that instead of fetching some milk he would offer his assistance with whatever his father was working on. As training for one day becoming the head of the royal House Vermillion his father often sent him work to do. Fuegoleon was even charged with overseeing three of their pieces of land. But with the war, his father had stopped sending him work and had taken over managing those properties in Fuegoleon’s place.

This morning his father had told his responsibilities for the three properties would continue once the festivities were over and he returned to the Crimson Lions base. Even though his duties as a Magic Knight would still demand more time and attention then usual until the gangs and such could be beaten back into place, Fuegoleon had been glad to have his familial duties returned.

After hearing his father and sister, Fuegoleon walked swiftly back to his quarters. He quietly closed and locked both the outer and inner doors of his chambers. Running a shaky hand over his forehead, he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. Lord Silva had hired people to kill Yami. And not just once but twice.

He didn’t like his cousin’s close relationship with Yami, or the liberties he knew Teris allowed the man. But that was far from a reason to kill him. His father had been right in his tempered outrage. Nathyn Silva had no right to attempt such a thing. Teris was Nozel’s Intended, nothing more. Until the two were properly betrothed neither Nozel or his father had any claim or authority over her. Even after they were betrothed the Silva’s say wouldn’t be much. Certainly not enough to permanently remove a person from Teris’ life by hiring people to kill. Who would even considered such a thing? Let alone followed through with it. What kind of person hired people to take another's life?

Fuegoleon felt himself go cold. Was this what it meant to a patriarch of a royal House? He knew his father held the lives and well-being of countless people in his hand. But he had never thought his father viewed those lives as expendable. Sure people had died in their service to him or the family. But Lord Leonidas Vermillion had always seen that the surviving family were given a large sum and well looked after. Fuegoleon couldn’t imagine his father capable of ordering someones death. Their Imprisonment and execution maybe. But those were open, lawful things. Hiring some gang to murder someone was something completely different. Something he had never imagined a royal doing. Such deeds were what thugs did.

No. Fuegoleon corrected himself. Such deeds were what thugs were hired to do. But who did the hiring? The thought that is was people like Lord Silva and his father troubled him. The fact that he was lumping his father in with Lord Silva’s terrible deed simply because the two were both patriarchs and close in rank disturbed him further still. But if Silva had done such a thing for something as simple as not liking Yami’s close connection with Teris, when Yami was a high ranking Magic Knight, it was almost certainly sure that Nozel’s father had hired such gangs for other reasons in the past. And if that were so, what was to say that his own father hadn’t done likewise. Fuegoleon couldn’t fathom a reason that would cause a man as honorable and caring as Leonidas Vermillion to do such a thing. He knew his father had killed before. His father had once been a Magic Knight where death and killing was sadly a somewhat regular occurrence. Even so, Fuegoleon couldn’t picture it. For some reason, despite knowing otherwise, he didn’t think his father the type of man capable of taking a life. Then again he thought the same about Nozel even though he had seen different with his own eyes more than once on the battlefield.

Nozel! Fuegoleon jolted, his hands and face becoming clammy. Did Nozel know of Lord Silva’s attempts? If so, when had Nozel known? He knew Nozel wanted to see Yami dead. That his threat of one day overseeing Yami’s execution was far from an empty one. What if Nozel had had enough of Yami’s teasing and inciting his anger? What if Nozel had had enough imagining what Teris and Yami got up to? Imagining what allowances she afforded Yami when she wouldn’t even accept a single kiss from Nozel. Could it be that Nozel had been the one to make the suggestion to Lord Nathyn? Fuegoleon didn’t think so; but up until a few moments ago he didn’t think Nathyn Silva, an upstanding royal and next in line for the throne, the type to hire assassins.

Writing isn’t just a love. It’s my only real outlet. And being able to connect with other people, bringing someone enjoyment through what little I can actually do has been a HUGE brightspot for me. So THANK YOU to everyone who has ever commented, reblogged, or left an ask.

Next chapter snippet:

Yami’s jaw clenched at that. He wasn’t sure he believed all this primordial forces business but he knew Alowishus and his Agents of Crazies did. All Yami was willing to admit at the moment was there was something more to all of this than rare, strong magic.

#yami sukehiro #nozel silva #fuegoleon vermillion #mereoleona vermillion #julius novachrono #nebra silva #solid silva #leopold vermillion #Black Clover #light in the darkness

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